Christine Nesbitt is the overwhelming favourite to win this event and add to Canada's gold medal collection at Vancouver. Nesbitt won the 2009 world championship and she also took the bronze in 2007. She has won an impressive 13 gold medals in World Cup competition.
Here is a look at the competition in Wednesday's women's 1,000-metres long-track speedskating race, which gets under way at 1:20 p.m. ET:
The Contenders
Christine Nesbitt is the overwhelming favourite to win this event and add to Canada's gold medal collection at Vancouver. Nesbitt won the 2009 world championship and she also took the bronze in 2007. She has won an impressive 13 gold medals in World Cup competition.
Nesbitt's main competitors will be Dutch speedskater Annette Gerritsen and the Chinese medal hope, Beixing Wang. Although Gerritsen placed 23rd at Turin in 2006, she's performed much better at the World Cup level, and has been particuraly exceptional at the national level. Meanwhile, China's Wang is a three-time silver medalist in the World Championships for the 500-meter race. She's not been as successful in the 1000 however.
The Top Five (Current World Cup rankings)
1. Christine Nesbitt, Canada, 400 pts
2. Annette Gerritsen, Netherlands, 205 pts
3. Nao Kodaira, Japan, 202 pts
4. Beixing Wang, China, 180 pts
5. Monique Angermuller, Germany, 170 pts
Canadian Medal Hopes
This is Nesbitt's race to lose. She comes into the race as the 2009 world championship gold medalist, and her competition hasn't seen anywhere near the level of success that Nesbitt has.
