The season for the long track skaters started in Berlin with fast times, and impressive track records by Shani Davis (USA), Jenny Wolf (GER), Christine Nesbitt (CAN) and Martína Sábliková (CZE). The times of Davis and Wolf were the fastest ever times on a lowland rink where times are usually slower because of the air resistance.

Ladies
The first distance for the ladies was the 3000m. No Dutch or Canadian ladies on the podium, but in third place was Stephanie Beckert, the young German lady who last year impressed on the 5000m and now finished a strong 3000m in 4:07.17. She was only little behind the second place, taken by Masako Hozumi from Japan, who managed 4:06.25. But the victory clearly went to Martína Sábliková, who took the track record of Dutch Renate Groenewold (4:02.44) down to 4:00.75, with most laps below 32, finishing in 32.4.

On Saturday, the lady sprinters came into action. On the 500m home favourite Jenny Wolf was only second, in 38.04. With a poor second turn, she had to bow to Beixing Wang (CHN), who won with 37.85. In third place finished Nao Kodaira, whose time was 38.19.

Nao Kodaira, Japanese champion on the three shortest distances, also made the 1000m podium that day. She beat double Olympic champion Marianne Timmer in a straight duel 1:15.92 to 1:16.13. Both times were good enough for silver and bronze, as there was only one other skater below 1:16.6: Christine Nesbitt from Canada won the 1000 with a strong 1:15.41.

On Sunday, Jenny Wolf was determined to and took an opening of 10.19 (in comparison: the second fastest opening was by Wang, 10.41) and a 27.3 lap brought her a new Track record time of 37.52. The old TR was also on her name with 37.75. The time of Wolf is also the fastest time ever on a lowland rink. After she crossed the finish line, she shook her head in amazement and disbelief. Later she commented: “In training I went faster and faster, so I knew I could do it, but often the lap was not that good. I would have been happy with a 37.7, so I was truly stunned.” In the next pair, Beixing Wang and Annette Gerritsen (NED) skated towards silver and bronze: 37.94 and 38.27. After two 500m races, Wolf and Wang share 180 points, Gerritsen after a 4th and 3rd place is third with 130 points. In the B-division there was an Australian record for Sophie Muir of 40.10.

Finally on the 1500m, the first surprise came in the fifth pair, where winner of the 3000m Sábliková proved to have mastered this distance as well, and finished in 1:56.99. The first to be below 1:58 after her was Brittany Schussler (CAN) in pair ten. Her time was 1:57.26 which was in the end the third time, as in the next pair her teammate Christine Nesbitt equaled Anni Friesinger’s track record and won the distance in 1:55.54.

Men
On the first day, the sprinters skated the 500 and 1000 meters. The Korean skaters dominated the 500m, with world champion Kang-Seok Lee setting the fastest time: 34.80. Kyou-Hyuk Lee finished second with 35.02, which is a pretty large gap on the shortest distance. Keiichiro Nagashima finished third in 35.13 and Mika Poutala (FIN) finished in his usual 4th place.

On the 1000m, Shani Davis erased the track record of Dutch Erben Wennemars (1:08.88) and completed the distance in 1:08.53, opening in 16.98, then a 25.1 and a 26.3 lap. He was more than half a second faster than Yevgenij Lalenkov (RUS) who was second in 1:09.11, and almost a second faster than the third-place finisher Joon Mun (KOR), who took third place with 1:09.43.

The 5000m was on Saturday. Sven Kramer (NED) had not lost a single 5000m in two years and won this one as well, thus directly qualifying for Olympic participation according to Dutch selection rules. His time was 6:14.69. In second place finished Håvard Bøkko (NOR), his main rival in the past year, with 6:17.17, and third was Bob de Jong, the Dutchman who is Olympic 10,000m champion, with 6:19.22. There were two national records on this distance in the B-division; 6:22.38 for Frenchman Alexis Contin and 6:24.88 for Shane Dobbin from New Zealand.

On Sunday’s 500m, Tucker Fredricks (USA), dissatisfied with his 14th place of the first day, skated a fierce race and finished in 35.05. This time was not bettered when in the last pair the two Koreans Lee, who were the best skaters on the first day, raced together. Kang-Seok opened in 9.59, and also Kyou-Hyuk opened with 9.62 faster than Fredricks’ 9.67. But the 25.3 lap was out of their reach today and Kang-Seok Lee’s time was 35.10, Kyou-Hyuk Lee had 35.13 and took third place. In the ranking, Kang-Seok Lee has 180 points, Kyou-Hyuk Lee 150 and Fredricks 116, one point ahead of Nagashima.

The final distance was the 1500m, and the win was possibly the most brilliant time of the weekend. First Denny Morrison (CAN) set 1:45.69, not too far from the 1:45.54 track record held by Fabris, A few pairs later, Norwegian champion Håvard Bøkko successfully attacked Morrison’s time with a 28.0 final lap, and finished in 1:45.56. However impressive these times, Shani Davis was over a full second faster. The smiling American started 23.59, had laps of 25.4, 26.9 and 28.4, resulting in 1:44.47. This time was not just an enormous improvement of the track record, it is the fastest time ever skated on a low land rink.  Morrison: “Shani is amazing. What a time!”

Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating –Berlin (GER) - Medal Winners

 

500m Ladies

1	Beixing Wang	CHN	37.85
2	Jenny Wolf	GER	38.04
3	Nao Kodaira	JPN	38.19

500m Men

1	Kang-Seok Lee	KOR	34.80
2	Kyou-Hyuk Lee	KOR	35.02
3	Keiichiro Nagashima	JPN	35.13

1000m Ladies

1	Christine Nesbitt	CAN	1:15.41
2	Nao Kodaira	JPN	1:15.92
3	Marianne Timmer	NED	1:16.13

1000m Men

1	Shani Davis	USA	1:08.53 TR
2	Yevgenij Lalenkov	RUS	1:09.11
3	Yoon Mun	KOR	1:09.43

500m Ladies

1	Jenny Wolf	GER	37.52 TR
2	Beixing Wang	CHN	37.94
3	Annette Gerritsen	NED	38.27

500m Men

1	Tucker Fredricks	USA	35.06
2	Kang-Seok Lee	KOR	35.10
3	Kyou-Hyuk Lee	KOR	35.13

1500m Ladies

1	Christine Nesbitt	CAN	1:55.54=TR
2	Martina Sábliková	CZE	1:56.99
3	Brittany Schussler	CAN	1:57.26

1500m Men

1	Shani Davis	USA	1:44.47 TR
2	Håvard Bøkko	NOR	1:45.56
2	Denny Morrison	CAN	1:45.69

3000m Ladies

1	Martina Sábliková	CZE	4:00.75 TR
2	Masako Hozumi	JPN	4:06.25
3	Stephanie Beckert	GER	4:07.17

5000m Men

1	Sven Kramer	NED	6:14.69
2	Håvard Bøkko	NOR	6:17.17
3	Bob de Jong	NED	6:19.22