Kristen Santos-Griswold joins Apolo Ohno in U.S. short track history book
Kristen Santos-Griswold earned her first World Cup 1500m win on Saturday to join Apolo Ohno as the only U.S. short track speed skaters to win in all three distances in the circuit's history.
Santos-Griswold, 29, goes into next month's world championships riding arguably her biggest victory of the season at the last World Cup.
It marked her fourth World Cup victory of the season, but her first over a field that included Dutchwoman Suzanne Schulting, the top skater from the 2022 Olympics.
Santos-Griswold relegated Schulting to runner-up in Saturday's 1500m in Gdansk, Poland.
Another American, Corinne Stoddard, took third ahead of decorated skaters Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands and South Korean Shim Suk-Hee.
Santos-Griswold now has victories in all three distances this season — 500m, 1000m and 1500m — after coming into the campaign with one career World Cup victory.
Ohno, who owns an American record eight Winter Olympic medals, is the only other U.S. short tracker to win at all three distances since the World Cup began in 1998.
Worlds are next month in the Netherlands.
A U.S. short track skater last won a world championships medal in 2014 (J.R. Celski). The last U.S. medals in women's events came in 2012 (Lana Gehring's 500m bronze and a relay silver).
Santos-Griswold has fourth-place finishes at both the Olympics and worlds.
