Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating – Heerenveen (NED)
The Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating circuit moved to Heerenveen,
the Netherlands, for both sprinters and allround skaters on
December 7-9. 2007.
Ladies
In the 500m ladies, Beixing Wang (CHN) won the 500m in a new
track record on Friday and Jenny Wolf (GER) was second, Sunday
it was the other way round. On Friday Wang’s new Track
Record was 37,96, on Sunday Wolf brought the Track Record
to 37,81 and Wang was a bit faster than the first day (37.92).
The first day Annette Gerritsen completed the podium with
38.53, the last day Sang-Hwa Lee from Korea took the bronze,
with 38.59. Wolf is leader in the World Cup ranking, with
560 points, with Beixing Wang second, with 520 points. Sayuri
Yoshii is third, 338 points, Gerritsen has 336.
In the 1000m, Anni Friesinger won with a track record of
1:15.34, she beat Christine Nesbitt head to head. Nesbitt
was second in 1:15.66. Beixing Wang and Chiara Simionato shared
the bronze, also racing head to head, both in 1:16.14. After
two second places and two wins, Anni Friesinger is well in
the lead with 360 points, Chiara Simionato follows with 290,
including one win, and then Christine Nesbitt, also with 290,
but no win. Beixing Wang is fourth, 266 points.
In the 1500m, Anni Friesinger skated a time of 1:55.98. In
the final pair, Canadian ladies Kristina Groves and Christine
Nesbitt didn’t open as fast as Friesinger. Groves finished
second in 1:56.18, Nesbitt third in 1:56.56. Nesbitt still
keeps the lead in the World Cup ranking with 350 points, Groves
is second with 290 and Friesinger third with 280.
In the 3000m ladies, Martina Sábliková (CZE)
did not win like in the previous 3000m races. She skated a
good time, 4:04.22, beating Anschütz-Thoms in her pair,
and taking over the lead from Ireen Wüst, whose 4:06.12
brought her back on the podium on the distance for which she
is Olympic champion. But in the last pair, Renate Groenewold
(NED) had an excellent race, and finished first place, 4:02.64.
Sábliková is still safely in the lead, 380 points,
Groenewold passed Pechstein in the ranking with 250 versus
240 points.
Men
In the 500m men, the leader Jeremy Wotherspoon (CAN) decided
to stay at home and train for the World Sprint Championships
in January. Last year’s World Cup winner Tucker Fredriks
won the first 500m, in 34.89, two Koreans finished behind
him: Kyou-Hyuk Lee second, 35.00. Third was Joon Mun with
35.05. Kang-Seok Lee passed Jeremy Wotherspoon to take over
the lead in the ranking, when he won the second 500m, on Saturday,
in 34,92. Joji Kato (JPN) finished second in 34,94 and Joon
Mun third again, in 34,96. Kyou-Hyuk Lee is third in the ranking.
The 1000m men, there was no comparison to Shani Davis. First,
Erben Wennemars took Shani’s track record, lowered it
to 1:08.80. Then came Davis himself. Paired with Simon Kuipers
he was pushed to a good race, when Kuipers caught up with
him through the last inner. But then, Kuipers lost his balance
and fell, just missing Shani Davis, gliding behind his back.
Davis went on to smash the track record, 1:08.39. Denny Morrison
and Kyou-Hyuk Lee in the last pair also reached the podium,
losing to Davis’ time schedule in the final lap. Morrison
finished in second place, 1:08.71, and Kyou-Hyuk Lee joined
Erben Wennemars for the bronze, 1:08.80. Shani Davis leads
in the ranking with 330 points, second is Lee with 270, then
Wotherspoon with 250.
In the 1500m men, Sven Kramer won his first 1500m, saying
he “finally understood the crux of the 1500”,
in 1:45.21, 0.02 above Wennemars’ track record. “It’s
okay, let Erben keep that”, he commented. Second was
Canadian Denny Morrison, 1:45.34, third Mark Tuitert with
1:45.54, before Davis and Kuipers. Wennemars leads in the
ranking with 296 points, followed by Tuitert, 218 points,
Kuipers, 214, and Davis, 210. Enrico Fabris was not up to
his usual form: “I was sick, in bed for two days and
took antibiotics, so I won’t even start on the 5000m”,
said the Olympic champion.
Therefore, in the 5000m, Dutch Sven Kramer had no duel with
Enrico Fabris, (as in Salt Lake and Calgary), but Håvard
Bøkko (NOR), winner of the World Cup 10,000m last week,
came close to him. Kramer won in 6:15.26, Bøkko had
started in the pair before him and put a mark of 6:18.35.
The biggest surprise was the third place finisher, middle-distance
specialist Shani Davis (USA). Coached in Calgary by Arno Hoogveld
this year, he learned to skate a flat race, and his 6:21.36
stood to be good for bronze. Bøkko keeps the lead,
he took last weekend and has now 300 points. Kramer has 280,
and there is a gap to Bob de Jong, 208.
Team Pursuit
The Dutch won the team pursuit, the Canadians finished second,
and third were the Russians. This was true for both ladies
and men. The Dutch had to make up for the result of their
B-team in Calgary.
There were track records, on the 500m Jenny Wolf, GER, 37.81,
and 1000m Anni Friesinger,
There was one national record for Slovakia, Renate Karabova
skated 4.41,74. There were only 9 personal bests. Most skaters
improved their records on faster ice earlier this season.
One of the lower ranked skaters gave an idea of the atmosphere:
“I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face after
I finished my race, they were even cheering for me.”
In the coming weekend, the sprinters have the last Essent
ISU World Cup of 2007, in Erfurt, Germany.
Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating – Heerenveen
(NED) - Medal Winners
500m Ladies Friday
1 Beixing Wang CHN 37.96 TR
2 Jenny Wolf GER 38.03
3 Annette Gerritsen NED 38.53
500m Men Friday
1 Tucker Fredricks USA 34.89
2 Kyu-Hyuk Lee KOR 35.00
3 Joon Mun KOR 35.05
500m Ladies Sunday
1 Jenny Wolf GER 37.81 TR
2 Beixing Wang CHN 37.92
3 Sang-Hwa Lee KOR 38.59
500m Men Saturday
1 Kang-Seok Lee KOR 34.92
2 Joji Kato JPN 34.94
3 Joon Mun KOR 34.96
1000m Ladies Sunday
1 Anni Friesinger GER 1:15.34 TR
2 Christine Nesbitt CAN 1:15.66
3 Chiara Simionato
Beixing Wang ITA
CHN 1:16.14
1000m Men Sunday
1 Shani Davis USA 1:08.39 TR
2 Denny Morrison CAN 1:08.71
3 Erben Wennemars
Kyu-Hyuk Lee NED
KOR 1:08.80 (TR)
1500m Ladies Saturday
1 Anni Friesinger GER 1:55.98
2 Kristina Groves CAN 1:56.18
3 Christine Nesbitt CAN 1:56.56
1500m Men Friday
1 Sven Kramer NED 1:45.21
2 Denny Morrison CAN 1:45.34
2 Mark Tuitert NED 1:45.54
3000m Ladies Friday
1 Renate Groenewold NED 4:02.64
2 Martina Sáblíková CZE 4:04.22
3 Ireen Wüst NED 4:06.12
5000m Men Saturday
1 Sven Kramer NED 6:15.26
2 Håvard Bøkko NOR 6:18.35
3 Shani Davis USA 6:21.36
Team Pursuit Ladies Sunday
1 Renate Groenewold, Paulien van Deutekom, Diane Valkenburg
NED 3:00.54
2 Christine Nesbitt, Cindy Klassen, Brittany Schussler CAN
3:02.87
3 Yekaterina Lobysheva, Yekaterina Abramova, Galina Likhachova
RUS 3:03.81
Team Pursuit Men Sunday
1 Sven Kramer, Erben Wennemars, Wouter Olde Heuvel NED 3:40.57
2 Arne Dankers, Denny Morrison, Justin Warsylewicz CAN 3:42.82
3 Yevgenij Lalenkov, Ivan Skobrev, Alexej Yunin RUS 3:45.22
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