CALGARY, Canada, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Host favorite Valerie Maltais set a new world record of the women's 1,000 meters short track speed skating at the ongoing World Cup on Friday.
She won her qualifying heat in one minute and 27.653 seconds, improving the previous mark of 1:29.049 set by the Chinese skater Zhou Yang at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.
"When I started my race I just told my coach I was going to go fast during the race, but I didn't say I was trying to break the record," Maltais said.
China's Olympic champion Wang Meng, who just made her return to the national squad after a one-year suspension, would have to move forward to rep heats after trailing Maltais by 2.524 seconds in the same heat.
Wang's teammates Fan Kexin and Liu Qiuhong both earned direct advance to the quarterfinals.