SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING: Andy Jung has taken a clean sweep of the Short Track Olympic Selection trials, winning both the 500m and 1500m events on the second day of competition in Melbourne.
Four male skaters took to the ice this week to battle it out for the one Short Track quota over two distances for the PyeongChang 2018 Games.
While Sochi Olympian Pierre Boda pushed Jung right to the line on several occasions, Jung’s strong form prevailed and he won not only the Olympic selection events, but also both 1000m races, meaning he will be the top ranked Australian for the 2018 Montreal World Championships.
Overall, Jung took out all six events across the two days of racing, cementing his place as Australia’s fastest short tracker.
“I am really pleased, and relieved,” Jung said of his performance this week in front of his family and friends who had come to cheer him on.
“Everything I had was put in and it feels unreal.”
Jung is on the cusp of realising a five-year long dream.
“I decided I wanted to be an Olympian when I saw a world class competition in this rink in 2012 and after seeing that competition I decided I want to be part of that.”
After he missed qualifying for the Sochi 2014 Olympics in a race-off against his good mate Boda, Jung was determined not to that happen again and he moved back his home country to train with a state team.
“Training in Korea with a lot of skaters who are better than me has been really helpful and motivating,” he said.
Boda also lives and trains with Jung in Seoul, alongside Australia’s top female short tracker Deanna Lockett, making the Australian Team a close-knit community.
However the men had to put their good friendships aside at the O’Brien Group Arena this week when they went head-to-head for the single Olympic spot.
“There is really good team comradery in the team at the moment,” president of Australian Ice Racing, Frank Anderson said.
“It’s good to have competitive spirt within the team and to have the support when the racing is done, but when they’re out there they are competing to be the best in Australia and the world.
“Andy was the clear winner in the trials yesterday and today.”
Following the conclusion of the Olympic selection trials in Melbourne today, AIR will nominate one male and one female skater who have achieved the qualifying standard to the Australian Olympic Committee for next year’s South Korean Games.
Georgia Thompson
Olympics.com.au
