Short track speed skating: I woke up knowing that I would be a World Champion – Shaoang Liu

–Congratulations!
– Thank you. Shall I tell you something? I woke up on Saturday knowing that I would become a world champion.

–Pardon me?!
– It might be strange to hear such self-confidence, but that's what happened. I felt that I will win the world championships gold. But I hadn't told anyone about it.

–Did this thought help you when you slipped out in the 1500m finals?
– Yes, I carried this morning thought with me the whole day, and I didn't waver in the most difficult moments either because I knew that, at the end of the day, the gold medal would be around my neck. That slip out had a precedent: in the 1,500 semifinals, my blades were damaged on both skates. Of course, not intentionally, but I was involved in a fight, and I slipped against the barrier. The fact that the referees would made me advance to the final was not a question. But then a different kind of issue began – this time we raced against time. We had less than 30 minutes left until the finale, and although our technicians are good, it was a short time, so they couldn't perfect my blades 100 percent for the finals. Then I slipped out in the finals as well as a consequence, and my shoes touched the ice which is usually followed by a fall...

–Were you disappointed?
– I'm not saying I was jumping with joy, but that morning feeling, that though I woke up with that I'll become a world champion in Dordrecht continued to carry me forward.

–Has preparing smoothly since the European Championships in January meant this much?
– I'm still not in my record-breaking form, but I can skate more freely compared to the European Championships.

–Let's add that you also skated fast. Very fast.
– It matters a lot on 500m who skates what time, and on Saturday I was the fastest both in the quarter and semi-finals, so in the finals, I started on lane number 1.

–What tactics were you stepping on the ice with?
– I knew that Semion Elistratov, who was next to me, usually doesn't start off well, so my tactic was to overrun him as quickly as possible. He needed about two or three laps until he caught up. I could feel him coming closer, and I saw it on the displays.

–Where?!
– We asked for more displays next to the ice at the European Championships in Debrecen too because sometimes I look around during the race. It helps a lot.

–You had another help on Saturday.
– Yes, my older brother Shaolin. The coaches also helped, of course. Line was in the coach's box, but I couldn't hear her well, and she wore a mask, while Shaolin was at a place where it wasn't mandatory to wear it.

–Did you hear your brother all along?
– Yes. Shaolin was already cheering by the barrier in the semi-finals, and he came in handy when I was in second place. He yelled “relax, relax, the third skater is way behind you,” so I was able to calmly prepare to pass and I outpaced this year's European champion, Russia's Konstantin Ivlev. Shaolin also encouraged me in the finals and screamed the whole time.

–It was a touching moment when you hugged each other after reaching the finish line.
– It was so natural that I ran to him first after reaching the finish line! It was so good that I hugged my brother first... I wouldn't have been able to go to the coaches anyway because they were a little higher, and there was a fence separating me from them.

–I guess they all made up in the locker room.
– In abundance.

–What did Lina say?
– That I was good, that I skated well.

–That's true.
– I also feel like I skated well; I'm happy with the gold medal. However, I don't want to celebrate just yet because I have more races to do on Sunday. I sincerely hope that the closing day of the World Championships will be even better than this Saturday's.

WORLD SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, DORDRECHT
Men's. 500m. World champion: Shaoang Liu (Hungary, club: FTC, coach: “Lina” Zhang Jing, Ákos Bánhidi) 40.524,2^nd Semion Elistratov (Russia) 40.603, 3rd Pietro Sieghel (Italy) 40.673,...8^th Shaolin Sándor Liu (Hungary)
1500m. World champion: Charles Hamelin (Canada) 2:18.143,2^nd Itzhak de Laat (Netherlands) 2:18.202, 3^rd Semion Elistratov (Russia) 2:18.296,4^th Shaolin Sándor Liu 2:18.437,...7^th Shaoang Liu 3:06.287.Overall (after two distances):1st Charles Hamelin 36 points,2^nd Shaoang Liu 36, 3^rd Elistratov 34, ...6^th Shaolin Sándor Liu 8.

(Translated by Vanda Orosz)