Santos-Griswold Captures Another World Cup Silver In Dresden

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by Paul D. Bowker

Kristen Santos-Griswold went toe-to-toe against one of the world’s most accomplished short track speed skaters at a World Cup stop this weekend in Dresden, Germany.

 

Taking on three-time Olympic Gold medalist and four-time Overall World Champion Choi Min-Jeong of South Korea, Santos-Griswold held on until the final moments to come away with a Silver medal in the Women’s 1500m Saturday.

 

Choi, who has won the last two Olympic Gold medals in the event, defeated Santos-Griswold, a 2022 Olympian, by less than the length of a skate in the event. Santos-Griswold finished in 2 minutes, 26.570 seconds, just .034 seconds behind Choi and .021 seconds ahead of Canada’s Courtney Sarault.

 

The dramatic race produced the lone U.S. medal of the World Cup’s fifth stop. Santos-Griswold continued a streak in which she has reached the podium at every World Cup this season, with seven World Cup medals to go with another four she captured at the ISU Four Continents Championships. She ranks fourth in the overall World Cup rankings.

 

In a second Women’s 1500m on Sunday, Santos-Griswold finished sixth. After winning her quarterfinal and semifinal heats, she led for the first two laps in the final and was among the top four when she crashed with two other skaters with 1.5 laps left.

 

Corinne Stoddard, who won the first individual World Cup medal of her career earlier this season in Almaty, Kazakhstan, nearly won another medal Sunday in the 500m. She placed fourth in the final with a time of 43.668 seconds, missing a third-place finish by .325 seconds. Stoddard made the B Final in the 1000m and won the race with a time of 1:38.087.

 

Stoddard, Maame Biney, Kamryn Lute and Louisiana Stahl combined for an eighth-place finish in the Women’s 3000m Relay, placing fourth in the B Final.

 

On the men’s side, Clayton DeClemente had his best World Cup individual finish in the 1500m, winning the B Final on Sunday. Overall, he ranked ninth. He had a time of 2:24.635. He also raced in the 1000m but did not advance past the quarterfinals.

 

DeClemente, Andrew Heo, Caleb Park and Wesley Park teamed up for a time of 7:14.266 in the Men’s 5000m Relay, but they did not advance past the quarterfinals.

 

The U.S. also missed the medal round in the 2000m Mixed Relay. DeClemente, Heo, Santos-Griswold and Stoddard combined for a time of 2:41.110 and a third-place finish in their quarterfinal heat.

 

The final World Cup stop of the season is set for Dordrecht, Netherlands, Feb. 10-12.

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