Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating – Calgary (CAN)
The Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating series continued this
weekend in Calgary (CAN), at the Olympic Oval which is renowned
for its record-breaking ice.
Ladies
In the 500m ladies, Jenny Wolf (GER) won both races, the first
one was a new world record of 37.02, and also the fastest
100m opening ever, 10.13. Beixing Wang from China was number
two, and she brought the Chinese record to 37.21. Sayuri Yoshii
from Japan finished third and fourth, Annette Gerritsen from
the Netherlands finished fourth and third, both times in a
personal best. In the ranking Wolf leads with 380 points,
Wang has 340, then Yoshii has 270 points.
In the 1000m, Anni Friesinger, won with a large margin and
set a German record of 1.13,49. In second place Christine
Nesbitt, finished with 1.14,14, and Chiara Simionato finished
in third place 0.01 behind Nesbitt, paired with her.
In the 1500m, Christine Nesbitt equaled the personal best
that gave her last week’s win, and the time of 1:52.75
gave her the victory once again. This time, the competition
was a second closer. Anni Friesinger competed here in Calgary
unlike last week, and she brought her German record time down
to 1:53.09 but declared after the race nonetheless: “I
am really happy!” Third person on the podium was Kristina
Groves (CAN) who improved herself to 1:53.18. Nesbitt said
she had been very nervous before the race, feeling the tension
of expectations after she won her first World Cup race last
week, but she had managed to let her racing thoughts go shortly
before her race.
In the 3000m ladies, Martina Sábliková (CZE)
won just like last week, this time in a new NR, 3:55.83. She
had a good pair with Renate Groenewold (NED) who had the lead
for most of the race and also skated a national record of
3:55.98, but with a fast final lap (31.1 second) Sábliková
passed her. Kristina Groves (CAN) got the bronze with 3.58.78.
The other skaters stayed above the four minute barrier. Behind
Sábliková, Groenewold and Groves are ranked
two and three in the World Cup as well, with Claudia Pechstein
fourth in the same amount of points as Groves, after two fourth
places.
Men
In the 500m men, Jeremy Wotherspoon (CAN) kept up his winning
streak. In the first 500m, Dmitrij Lobkov equaled his Russian
record of 34,35 and finished second, with Joon Mun in third
place, who is the third Korean this year to reach the 500m
podium. In the second 500m, Tucker Fredricks from the USA
finished second, with a national record of 34.31 being faster
than Casey FitzRandolph’s winning Olympic time. Third
was Finnish skater Mika Poutala with a NR of 34.39. Kang-Seok
Lee finished fourth both days, but is still second in the
ranking, with Lobkov third, followed closely by Kyou-Hyuk
Lee.
The 1000m men there was a different winner for the third
time in a row. Denny Morrison won on home ground, staying
0.01 above his personal best time: 1:07.25. Jeremy Wotherspoon
started like nobody ever did before, 16.16 and then passing
at 40,52 but this was too much even for the 500m world record
holder, and he lost much in the final lap of 26.7, finishing
in 1:07.31. In third place finished Dutchman Simon Kuipers,
1:07.39, with a 25.6 last lap.
In the 1500m men, there was no world record this week, but
the winner stayed only 0.05 second away from it. Simon Kuipers
nonetheless had a remarkable race with 1:42.37 he was 1.6
seconds below his former personal best. “It took some
time for me to get used to the fast icerinks. So far I won
one World Cup in Heerenveen only, but I finally figured it
out”, he said. He was paired with his training partner
Mark Tuitert, who also took 1.3 second off his pb and finished
in third place with 1:42.87. Wennemars finished in fourth
place not feeling so well, but he is still leading in the
ranks with 160 points, followed by Davis with 150 and Kuipers
with 132.
In the 5000m, Dutch Sven Kramer wanted to put something right,
after losing his world record last week to Italian Enrico
Fabris. “The worst was that I felt I had not shown what
I could do. So this week I wanted to give it all that I had”,
he said. And he did. Starting out with 17.74 and eight laps
of 28, passing the 3000m mark at 3.37,14, he took a new world
record time of 6:03.32. Enrico Fabris started again in the
pair after Kramer. After 1000m Fabris was 0.01 faster than
Kramer, but could not keep his laptimes that low. He finished
in a new Italian record time, 6:06.42. The podium was completed
by Dutch Carl Verheijen.
Team Pursuit
The German ladies and the Canadian men won the team pursuit.
Second were the Canadian ladies and the Norwegian men and
third the Russian ladies and the German men.
There were two world records, on the 500m Jenny Wolf, GER,
37.02, and 5000m Sven Kramer, NED, 6:03.32.
40 national records, for Belarus, Belgium(2), China(2), Czech
Republic(2), Denmark(2), Finland, France, Germany(5), Hungary,
Italy(2), Japan, Kazakhstan(3), South Korea(2), Netherlands(2),
Norway, Poland(2), Romania(6), Russia, Spain, Switzerland
and the USA.
There were 191 personal bests.
Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating – Calgary
(CAN) - Medal Winners
500m Ladies Friday
1 Jenny Wolf GER 37.02 WR
2 Beixing Wang GER 37.21 N
3 Sayuri Yoshii JPN 37.88
500m Men Friday
1 Jeremy Wotherspoon CAN 34.23
2 Dmitrij Lobkov RUS 34.35 =N
3 Joon Mun KOR 34.43 P
500m Ladies Saturday
1 Jenny Wolf GER 37.15
2 Beixing Wang CHN 37.55
3 Annette Gerritsen JPN 37.63 P
500m Men Sunday
1 Jeremy Wotherspoon CAN 34.24
2 Tucker Fredricks USA 34.31 N
3 Mika Poutala FIN 34.39 N
1000m Ladies Sunday
1 Anni Friesinger GER 1:13.49 N
2 Christine Nesbitt CAN 1:14.14
3 Chiara Simionato ITA 1:14.15
1000m Men Sunday
1 Denny Morrison CAN 1:07.25
2 Jeremy Wotherspoon CAN 1:07.31
3 Simon Kuipers NED 1:07.39 P
1500m Ladies Saturday
1 Christine Nesbitt CAN 1:52.75 =P
2 Anni Friesinger GER 1:53.09 N
3 Kristina Groves CAN 1:53.18 P
1500m Men Friday
1 Simon Kuipers NED 1:42.37 P
2 Shani Davis USA 1:42.83
2 Mark Tuitert NED 1:42.87 P
3000m Ladies Friday
1 Martina Sáblíková CZE 3:55.83 N
2 Renate Groenewold NED 3:55.98 N
3 Kristina Groves CAN 3:58.78
5000m Men Saturday
1 Sven Kramer NED 6:03.32 WR
2 Enrico Fabris ITA 6:06.42 N
3 Carl Verheijen NED 6:11.15
Team Pursuit Ladies Sunday
1 Anni Friesinger, Claudia Pechstein, Daniela Anschütz-Thoms
GER 2:56.46
2 Christine Nesbitt, Kristina Groves, Shannon Rempel CAN 2:59.18
3 Yekaterina Lobysheva, Yekaterina Abramova, Galina Likhachova
RUS 3:01.04
Team Pursuit Men Sunday
1 Arne Dankers, Denny Morrison, Steven Elm CAN 3:41.95
2 Håvard Bøkko, Henrik Christiansen, Sverre Haugli
NOR 3:42.88
3 Stefan Heythausen, Robert Lehmann, Tobias Schneider GER
3:44.40
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