Tilburg Medal Haul Boosts Santos-Griswold, Stoddard To 1-2 In Crystal Globe Race

Corinne Stoddard and Kristen Santos-Griswold continued their momentum as the ISU Short Track World Tour resumed over the weekend in Tilburg, Netherlands.

Stoddard won a Silver medal in the Women’s 1000m and a Bronze medal in the 1500m, marking the first time she’s won two individual medals this season, while Santos-Griswold won a Bronze medal in the 500m. Both also raced on the Women’s Relay and Mixed Relay teams that won Bronze medals.

The performance moved the Olympic teammates to the first and second spots in the Women’s Crystal Globe standings.

Stoddard nearly won Gold at the 1000m distance but was caught and passed by Belgium’s Hanne Desmet on the last lap. Stoddard finished in 1:30.847, just 0.393 seconds behind Desmet.

“I tried to stay to the front,” Stoddard said. “I didn’t want to get caught behind anyone. I thought, ‘Wow, I have the win.’ But Hanne flew by me on that last lap.”

“My legs had blown up at three laps to go,” she added. “Leading the entire race, it’s pretty hard with that field out there. I’m proud with how I skated.”

Stoddard and Santos-Griswold each won their semifinals in the 1500m, and then Stoddard edged her teammate for the final podium place in the final. Her time of 2:27.525 was just 0.04 ahead of Santos-Griswold.

The two also battled in the 500m, when Santos survived a final lap tussle with Poland’s Natalia Maliszewska to finish third in 43.5 seconds. Stoddard was two spots behind in fifth place.

Santos-Griswold, last year’s Crystal Globe runner-up, leads the overall title race with 878 points.

“I’m trying not to focus on that and just think about one race, one step at a time,” Santos-Griswold said.

Stoddard, who said she has been suffering from insomnia, is just 28 points back.

“I’ve been dealing with really bad insomnia. I even thought about not coming here because the sleep deprivation is getting to me more,” Stoddard said. “It’s horrible. It affects your emotional, mental and definitely physical abilities. I’ve been to an insomnia therapist, been taking some sleeping medicine. I had one night where I was really anxious, and now it’s performance anxiety about sleep. So that Silver medal means a ton to me with how horrible it has been.”

A crash in the quarterfinals of the 1000m prevented Santos-Griswold from advancing, and scoring points, at that distance.

“I thought I’d be advanced, so it was heartbreaking for that not to happen,” Santos-Griswold said. “I’m struggling with it. It’s tough to feel physically ready but not show everyone that.”

Santos-Griswold and Stoddard teamed up with Julie Letai and Louisiana Stahl for a Bronze medal in the 3000m Women’s Relay, the first World Tour medal this season for the relay squad. The team finished in 4:12.463, less than a second behind winner the Netherlands.

With the Winter Olympics less than a year away, these athletes are focused on moving forward and making progress both on the ice, and off.

“I think going into the Olympic year I’m pretty confident that I could do some pretty great things at Milan 2026 as long as I get these sleeping issues in check, which is mainly getting my mental health in check,” shared Stoddard.

The U.S. also won a Bronze medal in the 2000m Mixed Relay for the second time this season, finishing third with a time of 2:51.378. Santos-Griswold and Stoddard joined Sean Shuai and Andrew Heo in that race.

Brandon Kim had the highest individual finish among the U.S. men, placing second in the B Final of the Men’s 500m. Clayton DeClemente finished fourth in the Men’s 1000m B Final.

The World Tour resumes Feb. 14-16 in Milan, Italy. It is a test event for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

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.