Stoddard Claims First Individual World Tour Gold Medal in Beijing
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by Paul D. Bowker
Corinne Stoddard claimed her first individual Gold medal in an international competition over the weekend and also added a Bronze, while U.S. teammate Kristen Santos-Griswold won a Silver medal, at the ISU Short Track World Tour’s third stop of the 2024-25 season in Beijing.
The pair also teamed with Clayton DeClemente, Marcus Howard and Andrew Heo to capture a Bronze medal in the Mixed Relay.
Stoddard and Santos-Griswold, both 2022 Olympians in Beijing, chased down Korea’s Kim Gilli for a one-two finish on the final lap of the Women’s 1500m. Stoddard came through on the inside and Santos-Griswold on the outside.
“One lap to go, I was like, ‘I have this, I can do it,’” Stoddard said. “It felt so good at one lap to go and I was like, ‘I just have to pass one more person,’ and I did it. I had an amazing race.”
The victory was the first in an individual race for Stoddard, who won her first relay Gold medal last season at a World Cup in Dresden, Germany (the World Cup changed named to World Tour this season). Stoddard’s Gold medal was also the first for a U.S. skater this season.
Stoddard won the final in a time of 2:25.738, which was just ahead of Santos-Griswold in second place at 2:25.850. Kim, the reigning World Champion, took third. The stacked field also included Crystal Globe leader Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands and World Championships medalists Hanne Desmet of Belgium and Courtney Sarault of Canada.
“I felt like I was the strongest one there,” said Stoddard, the reigning World Championships Bronze medalist in the event.
Santos-Griswold, the 2023-24 Crystal Globe runner-up, medaled in the 1500m for the first time this season. The podium finish was her third of the season.
Stoddard tied South Korea’s Choi Min-jeong for third place in the 1000m, with both finishing in 1:29.777. Danae Blais of Canada won in 1:29.678, followed by Velzeboer in 1:29.717.
Santos-Griswold and Stoddard also finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 500m, with Stoddard winning the B Final.
Stoddard emerged from Beijing with a second-place standing in the Crystal Globe race with 532 points, trailing only Velzeboer with 656. Stoddard has now captured five individual medals in three World Tour events this season.
“I worked so hard this summer, I really changed basically everything,” Stoddard said. “Last season, seeing myself on the podium so many times without pushing myself as hard as I could have done, I was like, ‘What could I be if I push myself in training?’”
The Mixed Relay team also reached the podium for the first time this season, taking third with a time of 2:39.480. China and South Korea claimed the first two spots, with all three medalists finishing within 0.365 seconds.
Heo had the top men’s finish, placing sixth in the 1500m B Final.
The World Tour’s fourth stop is Dec. 13-15 in Seoul.
Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic and Paralympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is a freelance contributor to USSpeedskating.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
