One final push by Kristen Santos-Griswold finished off an impressive World Cup streak Saturday in Dordrecht, Netherlands.
Santos-Griswold, a 2022 Olympian, passed nearly the entire field from last place in the final two laps of the Women’s 1000m, then dodged Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands inside in the last turn to capture the Silver medal with a time of 1 minute 29.864 seconds.
With the performance, Santos-Griswold completed the short track World Cup season with a medal at every stop and fifth place in the Overall World Cup rankings. The medal was the eighth of the season for Santos-Griswold in six World Cup stops, plus another four medals she captured at the ISU Four Continents Championships.
Kim Boutin of Canada, a four-time Olympic medalist, battled for the lead with Velzeboer for much of the 1000m race as the crowd roared in Dordrecht. But when Boutin held off Velzeboer in the final lap for the win in 1:29.807, Santos-Griswold charged into second place for the Silver medal.
That race produced the lone medal of the weekend for U.S. skaters, but Santos-Griswold nearly helped the U.S. win a medal in the 2000m Mixed Relay, and Corinne Stoddard was just one spot off the podium in the Women’s 500m.
Stoddard finished fourth in the 500m for the second consecutive week, coming in just .007 seconds behind third-place finisher Rikki Doak of Canada. Stoddard had a time of 43.004 seconds. "All six World Cups are over," Stoddard shared. "Made an A Final every World Cup this season!"
Santos-Griswold combined with two-time Olympian Maame Biney, Clayton DeClemente and Andrew Heo for a time of 2:41.477 in the Mixed Relay. The U.S. finished fourth, trailing the Netherlands, Canada and Poland.
DeClemente was the only U.S. man to make an A Final, finishing a career-best sixth in the 1500m with a time of 2:17.972. He won his heat in the quarterfinals and finished third in the semifinals.
DeClemente teamed up with Heo, Caleb Park and Wesley Park in the Men’s 5000m Relay, but they did not advance out of the quarterfinals.
The Women’s 3000m Relay Team saw the same fate as Biney, Kamryn Lute, Stoddard and Santos-Griswold were eliminated with a third-place finish in the quarterfinal round.
Stoddard finished in 10th place in the World Cup Women’s overall rankings and was fifth at 1000m and seventh in the 500m. Santos-Griswold also posted top-10 finishes across two distances, ending the season fourth in the 1500m and seventh in the 1000m. DeClemente was the highest-ranked U.S. man, in 43rd place in the overall standings.
The short-track season will conclude with the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, March 10-12, in Seoul, South Korea.