Liu Shaoang of China finished in third place in the men’s 1,500 meters on Saturday, at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Short Track Championships in Beijing.
Liu was the only home skater to qualify for the final. William Dandjinou of Canada and Stijn Desmet of Belgium moved into firm control of the top two places from the second-last lap, while Liu found himself in fourth behind Jens van’t Wout of the Netherlands.
In the end, Dandjinou won the gold medal in 2:15.09. Desmet came in second for silver, just 0.02 second behind. Van’t Wout crossed the line in third place, but was disqualified for a rules violation, which bumped Liu up to bronze in 2:15.89.
“This is our first final here, and I was happy that we won bronze,” Liu said. “But we will keep going, because what we really want is gold.”
In the men’s 500 meters, Canada’s Steven Dubois captured the title in 40.008 seconds, while Denis Nikisha of Kazakhstan snagged the silver and Van’t Wout bagged the bronze.
The Canadian quartet of Courtney Sarault, Rikki Doak, Florence Brunelle, and Kim Boutin triumphed in the women’s 3,000 meter relay in 4:09.254, finishing ahead of runners-up Poland and third-place squad the Netherlands.
Belgium’s Hanne Desmet clocked 1:28.641 to top the podium in the women’s 1,000 meters, followed by silver medalist Sarault and bronze claimant Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands.
The three-day World Short Track Championships will conclude on Sunday, with the final five titles to be decided.