Natalia Maliszewska will not remember her cup start in Almaty well. The Bialystok player was disqualified after the semi-final of the 500m competition.

Photo: Polish Speed ​​Skating Association

This season, the 27-year-old Maliszewska won World Cup short track medals in Montreal and Salt Lake City (twice silver), and now the Juvenia Białystok player was craving a puck won in Almaty too. Although in the 500m quarter-final Natalia was unrivaled and with a time of 43.029 s she confidently crossed the finish line as 1st, the semi-final was not so happy for the runner from Bialystok.

First of all, the competition was interrupted 3 times due to various incidents (2 falls, 1 false start), then, while it was possible to start within the rules, 2 laps before the finish line. arrival, Maliszewska caused Yara Van Kerkhof of the Netherlands to fall, for which, after the race, the Polish woman was disqualified. In Kazakhstan, Canadian Kim Boutin was the best, followed by Suzanne Schulting (Netherlands) and Kristen Santos-Griswold (USA).

Although in Almaty in the 500 m competition, Natalia was ranked only in 10th place (on Saturday she was 12th in the 1000 m), but in the overall World Cup standings (distance 500 m) , the athlete from Bialystok is still high. Maliszewska is second with 210 points, and first is Xandra Velzeboer (236 points).

Short Track World Cup – general classification (500m)
1. Xandra Velzeboer (Netherlands) – 236 pts
2. Natalia Maliszewska (Poland) – 210 points
3. Kim Boutin (Canada) – 200 points
4. Rikki Doak (Canada) – 170 points
5. Danae Blais (Canada) – 156
6. Kristen Santos (USA) – 140 points
7. Suzanne Schulting (Netherlands) – 112 points