Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Singapore | March 10, 1994||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 166 cm (5 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Short track speed skating | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Anja Chong (born March 10, 1994) is a Singaporean-born Malaysian short track speed skater.
Chong was born and raised in Singapore, holding permanent residency (PR) in the country. [1] She was educated at the United World College of South East Asia in Dover. Her mother, Sonja Chong, was the president of the Singapore Ice Skating Association (SISA). [1]
Chong and her mother are both Malaysian citizens. In 2011, when Chong was 17, they attempted to apply for Singaporean citizenship after being offered a ticket by the Olympic Council of Asia to compete at the 2011 Asian Winter Games in Kazakhstan, but their applications were rejected. [2]
She noted her disappointment, stating that "I would've stayed in Singapore because I started out here, but I had no choice. In order to compete at the Olympics, I needed citizenship." At the same time, she was also offered the spot by Malaysia, but had turned it down in the hopes of competing for Singapore. Eventually, she relented in having to represent Malaysia instead for future competitions to continue her career. [2]
Prior to 2012, Chong represented the country of her birth, including the Asian Junior Challenge in 2008 that was held in Hong Kong, where she earned a bronze medal. [2]
In 2009, she represented Singapore at the 2009 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. [2]
Chong began representing Malaysia at her first SEA Games in 2017 which was held in Kuala Lumpur, where she won 3 gold medals in the 500m, 1000m and 3000m ladies relay. [3] The sport was specifically created for that SEA Games, being the first time a winter sport was contested in SEA Games history, having only been competed by tropical countries. [4] [5]
One month before the SEA Games, she became the Malaysian Short Track Speed Skating National Champion, sweeping all the ladies events – the 500m and the 1000m. [6]
In February 2017, Anja took part in the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo. Competing in the 500m and the 1000m, she did not reach the finals, falling short in the heats. [7]
In 2019, Chong competed at her second SEA Games, which was held in the Philippines. She competed in the 500m, 1000m, and the 3000m relay. Although not winning any medals for the 1000m, she did won a bronze at the 500m, with the gold going to Singapore's Cheyenne Goh, and managed to get a single gold for the 3000m relay. [8]
Sylvie Daigle is a Canadian speed skater. She is a member of the Canadian short track relay team that won gold at the 1992 Winter Olympics and silver at the 1994 Winter Olympics. She is also a five-time Overall World Champion. She was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
Christine Nesbitt is a Canadian retired long track speed skater who currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. She won the gold medal in the 1000 metres event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. She had previously won a silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. She is also the 2011 sprint champion, 2012 1500 metres world champion, three-time world champion for 1000 metres, and three-time world champion for team pursuit. On 4 June 2015 she announced her retirement.
Arianna Fontana OMRI is an Italian short track speed skater, who has won eleven Olympic medals among these two gold medals in the 500m short track, one at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and the second one at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Her medal haul following the 2022 Games made her the short track skater with the most Olympic medals. It also made her the Italian sportswoman with the highest number of Winter Olympic medals, one more than Stefania Belmondo. She specializes in the 500 m event.
Park Hye-won is a retired South Korean short track speed skater.
Marianne St-Gelais is a Canadian former short track speed skater. She won two silver medals in the 500 m and 3,000 m relay at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, and a third silver in the 3,000 m relay at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Katherine Reutter-Adamek is an American short track speed skater. She is a two-time medalist in the Winter Olympics, 2011 overall world silver medalist and the 2010–2011 overall ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup champion.
Park Seung-hi is a former South Korean short track and long track speed skater. She is the 2010 Overall World Champion. She won two gold medals and three bronze medals at 2010 Winter Olympics and 2014 Winter Olympics. Her sister is Park Seung-ju, a long track speed skater, and her brother Park Se-yeong, a short track speed skater. She switched to long-track speed skating after the 2014 Sochi Olympics. After the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics Park announced her retirement from speedskating.
Elise Christie is a British former short track speed skater. She was coached by Nicky Gooch and she specialised in the 1000m event. She is ten times a European gold medallist, including two overall European titles in 2015 and 2016. In the 2017 World Championships in Rotterdam she won world titles in the 1000m and 1500m events, as well as the overall gold, the first British woman and first European woman to do so.
Shim Suk-hee is a South Korean short track speed skater. She is a two-time Olympic Champion and a World Champion (2014).
Jorien ter Mors is a retired Dutch speed skater on both short track and long track. She was the Olympic champion in the 1500 metres and team pursuit at the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 1000 metres at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Choi Min-jeong is a South Korean short track speed skater. She is a three-time Olympic Champion, a four-time World Champion, Four Continents Champion (2020), and the current world record holder for 1500m. Along with Chun Lee-kyung and Jin Sun-yu, Choi is widely regarded as one of the best female Korean short track speed skaters of all time.
Kathryn Victory Magno is an American-born Filipina short track speed skater and former figure skater. Magno is the first person to win a medal in speed skating for the Philippines in an international competition outside the country.
Japan competed in the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo and Obihiro, Japan from February 19 to 26. This marked the fourth time the country has played host to the Asian Winter Games. Japan competed in all eleven disciplines from five sports. Ice hockey player Go Tanaka was the country's flagbearer during the parade of nations at the opening ceremony.
India competed in the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo and Obihiro, Japan from February 19 to 26.
Cheyenne Goh is a Singaporean short track speed skater.
Suzanne Schulting is a Dutch short track speed skater who is also active as a long track speed skater. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, she won the Netherlands' first-ever gold medal in short track speed skating and became one of the youngest-ever Dutch Winter Olympic champions. She is also a two-time overall World Champion and three-time overall European Champion, and the current world record holder for 1000m.
Huang Yu-ting is a Taiwanese speed skater who has competed in inline speed skating, short track speed skating, and long track speed skating. She was the flagbearer for the 'Chinese Taipei' team at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games' opening ceremony.
Courtney Lee Sarault is a Canadian short track speed skater.
Maryse Perreault is a former short track speed skater who competed on the Canadian speed skating team from 1981 to 1990. At the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships during these years, she won over twenty combined medals in individual races and the 3000 metres relay. In the overall World Championships classification, Perreault was the 1982 ladies champion and had a top three placing in 1983, 1986 and 1989. Outside of the World Championships, Perreault won bronze at the 1988 Winter Olympics in the 3000 metres relay when short track speed skating was a demonstration sport. Perreault was named to the Speed Skating Canada Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1992.