After skating their first World Cup of the season in Berlin (GER), last weekend, all skaters traveled to the Thialf ice rink in Heerenveen (NED). Track records fell: again, Shani Davis (USA) was impressive and the 5000m men had a spectacular finish. There were also three national records, Sophie Muir bettered her Australian records to 39.68 and 1:19.54, and Seung-Hoon Lee brought the Korean record on the 5000 to 6:25.03. Håvard Bøkko’s sister Hege improved several Norwegian junior records.

 

Ladies

In the 500m for ladies, Annette Gerritsen (NED) delivered a strong race and finished in 38.23, a time good enough for the podium. In a straight duel, Jenny Wolf (GER) beat Beixing Wang (CHN) with 37.92 over 38.19.  Earlier in the day there had been an accident where Jing Yu from China fell and took Marianne Timmer (NED) down with her. Both ladies were brought to the hospital for first aid and Timmer’s Olympic dream was shattered because of a broken ankle.

On the 3000m, the top three finishers were much closer together than in the first weekend. In the pre-last pair, Stephanie Beckert (GER), last week’s number three, was paired with Daniela Anschütz-Thoms. Beckert is not a fast starter and saw her teammate in front of her for most of the race. At 2600m, her lap time was faster than Anschütz, and then she increased her speed and finished with a 31.8 lap overtaking Anschütz and finishing in 4:05.29, with Anschütz in 4:05.73, with a 33.0 final lap. In the last pair, last week’s winner Martína Sábliková (CZE), had a similar schedule and ended with two 32.9 laps, and was in second with her 4:05.68 time. Sábliková still leads the ranks with 180 points, Beckert has 170 and Anschütz-Thoms 130. Beckert: “I cannot start fast, that’s my weak point, but I tried to stay close and make my move in the end of my race.” 

The second 500m was a duplicate of the first one, be it without any falls. Wolf won, in 37.83 this time, Wang finished second in 38.07 and Gerritsen was third in 38.18. In the World Cup ranking 500m, Wolf leads with 380 points, Wang is second with 340 and Gerritsen follows with 270 points. 

On the 1500m, Ireen Wüst (NED) skated a very strong and solid race finishing in 1:56.69. One after the other missed that time: Cindy Klassen, Anni Friesinger-Postma, Daniela Anschütz-Thoms. Kristina Groves (CAN) put 1:57.05 on the clocks and then Nesbitt (CAN) skated, stayed close to the schedule of Wüst, but lost a bit in the first two intermediate times. At 1100m she was a few thousands of a second faster than Wüst, but her lap was faster. Therefore, it was a real surprise to see that she lost her advantage in the last lap and finished in 1:56.74 in second place. Wüst won after a lesser period and erased her insecurity of the past year. Groves finished in third place. Wüst: “This is unexpected. For once, I wanted not to think about the result, but to enjoy the skating. It’s a weight lifted from my shoulders.” 

In the Dutch team for the 1000m Natasja Bruintjes took the place of the injured Marianne Timmer, and delivered a strong race, posting 1:16.08, a time that proved to be too fast for many good skaters. Anni Friesinger-Postma (GER) lost her rhythm at a bad lane-crossing and finished in 7^th place only. Annette Gerritsen managed to beat Bruintjes’ time, with 1:16.03, and finally, like in Berlin, only one skater was below 1:16. Christine Nesbitt from Canada won the distance. Her time was 1:15.47. “I switched to train with a team with only boys, like Denny Morrison and Lukas Makowsky. That is really good.”

The Canadian ladies won the Team Pursuit in a new track record time: 3:00.39. In second place finished the Dutch team with 3:02.12 and Russia was third in 3:02.40.

 

Men

On the first day’s 500m, unlike last week no Korean on the podium. Keiichiro Nagashima (JPN) won in 34.98. Kang-Seok Lee (KOR) skated in pair with Tucker Fredricks (USA) who beat him with 35.01 against 35.11, second place for Fredricks and fourth place for the World Champion, as bronze went to surprising Dutchman Ronald Mulder, who skated a personal best time of 35.07. This skater made his World Cup debut no sooner than last week. 

Then came the 1500m, and the winner and runner up were exactly the same as a week before, both their times only 0.01 slower than in Berlin: Shani Davis skated a new track record of 1:44.48 with the same build-up as last week, and Håvard Bøkko (NOR) reached to 1:45.57. Dutchman Stefan Groothuis had a pair before Davis and Bøkko the fastest opening and the fastest first lap, and was even a little faster than Davis at 1100m, but the difference was in the final lap. Groothuis needed 29.8 there, where Davis could still skate a 28.5. Groothuis finished third in 1:45.74. “I have to try, and dare to open fast. I don’t think it is impossible to beat Davis.” Davis keeps his head cool. “I watched Groothuis race, but don’t let his race interfere with what I plan to do. I hope I can be stronger and faster. I believe it’s possible to be constant throughout the season.” 

In the second 500m, Joji Kato (JPN) was the strongest and 34.98 was the winning time again. Another Dutchman reached the podium, Jan Smeekens, with 35.02. Third was Kang-Seok Lee with 35.13.  The World Cup leader is Kang-Seok Lee, 310 points. Nagashima has 251 and Tucker Fredricks 246. 

Speed Skating was at its best in the final pairs of the men’s 5000m. Bob de Jong (NED) skated a strong race, where only two laps at the beginning were above 30 seconds, the rest was consistent 29 laps, resulting in 6:16.38, six and a half seconds faster than the leading time at that moment. Sven Kramer (NED) and Håvard Bøkko (NOR) had the last pair. Bøkko, who has long been in search for a way to beat Kramer, started in front from the start, gradually enlarging the gap during the first half of the race. In the second half of the race, Kramer didn’t let Bøkko skate further away. Sometimes the laps of one, then the laps of the other were faster, but the speed dropped and both skaters were slower than De Jong had been. In the last three laps Kramer dug into his reserves. His laps went from a 31.0 to a 29.9, to a 29.2. Still, he was behind both Bøkko and De Jong, but with a final effort, he squeezed another 29.2 lap out of his legs. He overtook Bøkko and the clock stopped at 6:16.29. He won again, be it with only 0.09 advantage over De Jong, and Bøkko was third within a second, with 6:17.10.

In the B-division of the 1000m, the winning time had been a fast 1:08.89 by Stefan Groothuis who was in that division because he fell in Berlin. That time proved hard to beat in the A-division. Simon Kuipers, who missed the 1000m in Berlin because of injury, skated in the first pair and skated 1:09.06. Tae-Bum Mo from Korea came very close but had to settle for 1:09.11. Many contenders didn’t even make that time, but in the final pair there was Shani Davis who in his own composed way, with a 26.2 final lap, reached 1:08.48, once again the winning time.

In the men’s Team Pursuit the USA team of Davis, Hedrick and Marsicano set a time of 3:43.94. When the Dutch team skated in the final pair, they skated behind that schedule, but with a good final lap, the clock stopped at 3:43.93. This time was corrected within a minute to 3:43.94. Two teams shared the gold. Olympic champions Italy finished third in 3:45.62. 

Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating –Heerenveen (NED) - Medal Winners

500m Ladies

1	Jenny Wolf	GER	37.92
2	Beixing Wang	CHN	38.19
3	Annette Gerritsen	NED	38.23

500m Men

1	Keiichiro Nagashima	JPN	34.98
2	Tucker Fredricks	USA	35.00
3	Ronald Mulder	NED	35.07 PR

1000m Ladies

1	Christine Nesbitt	CAN	1:15.47
2	Annette Gerritsen	NED	1:16.03
3	Natasja Bruintjes	NED	1:16.08

1000m Men

1	Shani Davis	USA	1:08.48
2	Simon Kuipers	NED	1:09.06
3	Tae-Bum Mo	KOR	1:09.11

b-Division winner: Stefan Groothuis NED      1:08.89

500m Ladies

1	Jenny Wolf	GER	37.83
2	Beixing Wang	CHN	38.07
3	Annette Gerritsen	NED	38.18

500m Men

1	Joji Kato	JPN	34.98
2	Jan Smeekens	NED	35.02
3	Kang-Seok Lee	KOR	35.13

1500m Ladies

1	Ireen Wüst	NED	1:56.69
2	Christine Nesbitt	CAN	1:56.74
3	Kristina Groves	CAN	1:57.05

1500m Men

1	Shani Davis	USA	1:44.48 TR
2	Håvard Bøkko	NOR	1:45.57
2	Stefan Groothuis	NED	1:45.74

3000m Ladies

1	Stephanie Beckert	GER	4:05.29
2	Martina Sábliková	CZE	4:05.68
3	Daniela Anschütz-Thoms	GER	4:05.73

5000m Men

1	Sven Kramer	NED	6:16.29
2	Håvard Bøkko	NOR	6:16.38
3	Bob de Jong	NED	6:17.10

Team Pursuit Ladies

1	Nesbitt, Groves, Schussler	CAN	3:00.39 TR
2	Wüst, Valkenburg de Vries	NED	3:02.12
3	Abramova, Likhachova, Shikhova	RUS	3:02.40

Team Pursuit Men

1	Blokhuijsen, W.Olde Heuvel, Verweij	NED	3:43.64
1	Davis, Hedrick, Marsciano	USA	3:43.64
3	Fabris, Anesi, Stefani	ITA	3:44.62

 

Full results