Heo, Howard, Kim and Shuai Combine for Fourth-Place Finish in Men’s Relay at Short Track Worlds
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by Paul D. Bowker
Andrew Heo, Marcus Howard, Brandon Kim and Sean Shuai nearly pulled off a medal-winning run at the ISU World Short Track Championships in Beijing!
In a weekend that may also be remembered for an injury to Crystal Globe winner Kristen Santos-Griswold during a Mixed Relay preliminary race, the U.S. foursome finished fourth in the Men’s 5000m Relay. Heo, Howard, Kim and Shuai missed a podium finish by less than a second.
Santos-Griswold, a 2022 Olympian who captured five medals at the 2024 World Championships, was involved in a crash with Canada’s Danaé Blais in the first round of the Mixed Relay competition on Friday, the first day of the three-day event.
Santos-Griswold was taken to a hospital following the crash and did not compete in any events the next two days.
In an article on the International Skating Union website Friday, U.S. coach Stephen Gough said Santos-Griswold “is not seriously injured” but that she “is pretty banged-up” and her status for the rest of the competition was unclear. She ultimately never returned.
It was a unfortunate finish to a record-breaking season for Santos-Griswold, that included four wins and nine individual podium finishes in six World Tour stops. In doing so, she became first U.S. short track skater to claim the Crystal Globe as the season’s Overall Champion, since the Crystal Globe was instated in 2022-23 season to recognize the top skater over the full World Tour season.
Also missing the World Championships due to health issues was Corinne Stoddard. Stoddard had a break out season where she won her first Gold medal and finished third Overall in the World Tour standings.
Santos-Griswold had started the Championships in strong form, winning her heat in the 1500m quarterfinals and her first-round heat in the 500m. She also posted a third-place finish in a 1000m heat.
Medal hopes fell to Heo, Howard, Kim and Shuai in the Men’s Relay. They placed fourth in the A Final with a time of 6:42.700, trailing Bronze-medal winner South Korea by .809 seconds.
Howard and Shuai teamed up with Julie Letai and Louisiana Stahl for a third-place finish in the Mixed Relay B Final. They finished seventh overall.
Letai added a fourth-place finish in the Women’s 1000m quarterfinals, while Stahl had a fourth-place finish in the Women’s 1500m quarterfinals. Heo reached the quarterfinals in the Men’s 500m and 1500m.
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.
