© SCS/Soenar Chamid
Hanne Desmet finished second in the 500 meters during the Short Track World Cup competitions in Gdansk, Poland. Desmet only had to let the Dutch Selma Poutsma go first on Saturday.
At the finish the difference was thirteen thousandths of a second. Desmet’s younger brother Stijn finished fifth in the final of the 1500 meters.
Hanne Desmet (27), a world champion in the 1000 and 1500 meters, chose to compete in the 500 meters four weeks before the world championships in Rotterdam. During training in Budapest, she had focused on improving her start.
That went well until the final. Poutsma left very quickly, Desmet and the Canadian Bo Kim Boutin followed. In the last lap Desmet reduced the difference, but she fell a fraction short on the finish line. In the quarter-finals the explosive Poutsma had stayed ahead of her, in the semi-finals she won ahead of Boutin.
Thanks to a victory in the semi-final, Stijn Desmet had qualified for the final of the 1500 meters. He did not give the surprising Brit Niall Treacy a chance. In the final won by Canadian Pascal Dion, Desmet stayed behind in the group of seven for too long to finish on the podium.
Afterwards, the mixed relay team added fourth place to the silver that Hanne Desmet captured in the 500 meters. Fifth place in the 1500 meters went to Stijn Desmet.
Tineke den Dulk, Adriaan Dewagtere and the Desmets were no match for the quartets of the Netherlands, South Korea and Canada in the two-kilometre race. It was the first time that the mixed team reached the A-final. By finishing sixth in the final rankings for the World Cup, Belgium secured a starting ticket for the world championships next month in Rotterdam.
With a little help, the foursome had qualified for the final. The United States and Italy were successively eliminated due to a crash. Second place behind Canada was enough to join the best for the first time.