Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating – Heerenveen (NED)
The final of the Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating was held
on 22-24 February in Heerenveen (NED), with the Thialf stadium
boasting a sold out event and its renowned festive atmosphere
on all three days.
Friday
Friday’s races started off with the first 500 metres
for ladies and men, where Jenny Wolf (GER) and Jeremy Wotherspoon
(CAN) had secured the first places in the overall World Cup
already before the final. And they both gave a good showing
as to why, winning their respective 500 m on Friday. Wolf
won in 37.89, convincingly ahead of Sang-Hwa Lee (KOR), while
the Dutch duo of Annette Gerritsen and Marianne Timmer shared
third place. In the men’s race, two other skaters went
below the 35-second barrier in addition to Wotherspoon’s
winning time of 34.82. Former world record holder Joji Kato
(JAP) came close to Wotherspoon with 34.84, while Korea’s
sprint World Champion Kyou-Hyuk Lee was third with 34.99.
In the men’s 1500m, Shani Davis (USA) secured the overall
World Cup victory through a convincing performance in the
final, winning in 1:45.25. Simon Kuipers (NED), who had been
in the lead before the final and needed a fifth place to keep
it, finished ninth. Denny Morrison (CAN) was second in the
final, while Enrico Fabris (ITA) seemed to be on his way back
from some recent difficulties, and secured third place with
his trademark strong finish. In the overall standings Kuipers
managed to hold on to second place, Mark Tuitert (NED) was
third.
Martina Sábliková (CZE) had already secured
the World Cup win on the ladies’ long distances before
the final, but put the icing on the cake by also winning the
final, ahead of a strong Dutch contingent, with Ireen Wüst
in second and Renate Groenewold in third. In the overall standings,
Sábliková won a clear victory, with Claudia
Pechstein (GER) in second. It is the twelfth time Pechstein
finishes in second place in the World Cup, not to mention
her victories. Renate Groenewold took third place overall.
Saturday
Saturday started off with the second 500 m for both men and
ladies. The winners were the same as the day before, and the
same as in the overall World Cup: Jenny Wolf and Jeremy Wotherspoon.
Wolf’s performance was not as good as the day before,
but 38.32 was still good enough to give her the twelfth win
of the fourteen World Cup races this season. Sang-Hwa Lee
repeated her second place from the day before, and this helped
her to a third place overall behind Gerritsen in second. For
the Dutch home crowd, the main drama was the disqualification
of Marianne Timmer at the start.
For Wotherspoon, Saturday’s victory in 34.92 was his
67th in an individual World Cup race, and it clinched his
thirteenth overall World Cup triumph. Both these achievements
are records among the men, and only beaten by Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann’s
98 individual victories and 14 overall victories among the
women. Joji Kato was second as the day before, and Dmitry
Lobkov (RUS) completed the podium. Kang-Seok Lee from Korea
finished second in the ranking, with Lobkov overtaking Kyou-Hyuk
Lee for third place today.
Recently crowned World Allround Champion Paulien van Deutekom
(NED) continued her string of strong performances by winning
the 1500m in 1:56.61, ahead of her teammate Ireen Wüst,
with Kristina Groves (CAN) in third. The third place for Groves
was nevertheless strong enough for her to win the overall
World Cup, as Christine Nesbitt (CAN), who had been leading
before the final, had a groin injury and could only finish
thirteenth, which proved unlucky for her indeed. The men’s
long distance crown went to Norway, where Håvard Bøkko
was rewarded for his consistency in the standings. Troubled
both by a shoulder injury and a recent bout with the flu,
he skated conservatively to secure a sixth place, which was
enough for overall victory. Sven Kramer (NED) won the final
race in 6:15.10, ahead of the rejuvenated Enrico Fabris and
the up-and-coming Dutchman Wouter Olde Heuvel. This result
meant that Kramer and Fabris took second and third places
overall.
Sunday
Anni Friesinger (GER) had pulled out of the 1500m final with
medical problems, but she was back with a vengeance for the
1000m. She won in 1:15.57, more than a second ahead of Paulien
van Deutekom. Shannon Rempel (CAN) was third, and this also
helped her to third place overall. Ireen Wüst was second
overall. Friesinger thus took her seventh career World Cup
title.
The men’s 1000m was decided in the final pair, a royal
battle between the top two in the world cup standings, Shani
Davis (USA) and Denny Morrison (CAN). Davis just beat Morrison
to the finish, 1:08.63 to 1:08.75, so they finished in the
same sequence as in the overall standings. Simon Kuipers (NED)
was third, but it only brought him to fourth place overall,
with his countryman Jan Bos in third.
Jenny Wolf took her third distance victory and her second
overall victory of the week-end in the women’s 100m,
which she won in 10.38 ahead of her German teammate Judith
Hesse, who also was second overall. Through this victory,
Wolf defended her World Cup title from the past two seasons.
Shihomi Shinya (JAP) made the overall podium thanks to her
third place in the final.
In the men’s class Kang-Seok Lee clinched his world
cup title by being second in the A final behind Joji Kato.
Mika Poutala (FIN), who held the lead going into this weekend,
had to settle for victory in the B final and fourth place.
His final points were the same as those of Kang-Seok Lee,
but Lee got the victory by virtue of his stronger finish in
the final. Kato’s final victory catapulted him to third
place overall.
The women’s team pursuit was won by Canada, with the
team of Groves, Rempel and Schussler – even with Cindy
Klassen’s absence and Christine Nesbitt’s groin
injury, the Canadians were still able to field a winning team.
Germany were second, Japan third. This victory also meant
the Canadians won the overall world cup ahead of Germany and
Japan. Finishing the weekend, the audience could enjoy a victory
from the strong Dutch team in the men’s pursuit. Sven
Kramer, Wouter Olde Heuvel and Carl Verheijen set a track
record of 3:40.20, with Canada second and Russia third.
Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating – Heerenveen
(NED) - Medal Winners
3000m Ladies
1 Martina Sábliková CZE 4:03.75
2 Ireen Wüst NED 4:04.24
3 Renate Groenewold NED 4:04.98
World Cup
1 Martina Sábliková CZE 730
2 Claudia Pechstein GER 490
3 Renate Groenewold NED 355
1500m Men
1 Shani Davis USA 1:45.25
2 Denny Morrison CAN 1:45.51
3 Enrico Fabris ITA 1:45.83
World Cup
1 Shani Davis USA 460
2 Simon Kuipers CAN 426
3 Mark Tuitert NED 413
500m Men, Friday
1 Jeremy Wotherspoon CAN 34.82
2 Joji Kato JAP 34.84
3 Kyou-Hyuk Lee KOR 34.99
500m Men, Saturday
1 Jeremy Wotherspoon CAN 34.92
2 Joji Kato JAP 35.07
3 Dmitry Lobkov RUS 35.12
World Cup
1 Jeremy Wotherspoon CAN 1080
2 Kang-Seok Lee KOR 775
3 Dmitry Lobkov RUS 725
500m Ladies, Friday
1 Jenny Wolf GER 37.89
2 Sang-Hwa Lee KOR 38.38
3 Annette Gerritsen NED 38.52
Marianne Timmer NED
500m Ladies, Saturday
1 Jenny Wolf GER 38.32
2 Sang-Hwa Lee KOR 38.70
3 Svetlana Kaykan RUS 38.82
World Cup
1 Jenny Wolf GER 1460
2 Annette Gerritsen NED 928
3 Sang-Hwa Lee KOR 714
1500m Ladies
1 Paulien van Deutekom NED 1:56.61
2 Ireen Wüst NED 1:57.04
3 Kristina Groves CAN 1:57.62
World Cup
1 Kristina Groves CAN 555
2 Christine Nesbitt CAN 508
3 Ireen Wüst NED 413
5000m Men
1 Sven Kramer NED 6:15.10
2 Enrico Fabris ITA 6:18.56
3 Wouter Olde Heuvel NED 6:20.21
World Cup, long distances
1 Håvard Bøkko NOR 445
2 Sven Kramer NED 430
3 Enrico Fabris ITA 413
1000 m Ladies
1 Anni Friesinger GER 1:15.57
2 Paulien van Deutekom NED 1:16.77
3 Shannon Rempel CAN 1:16.82
World Cup
1 Anni Friesinger CAN 1010
2 Ireen Wüst NED 602
3 Shannon Rempel CAN 516
1000m Men
1 Shani Davis USA 1:08.63
2 Denny Morrison CAN 1:08.75
3 Simon Kuipers NED 1:09.22
World Cup
1 Shani Davis USA 840
2 Denny Morrison CAN 736
3 Jan Bos NED 550
100m Ladies
1 Jenny Wolf GER 10.37
2 Judith Hesse GER 10.55
3 Shihomi Shinya JAP 10.57
World Cup
1 Jenny Wolf GER 350
2 Judith Hesse GER 270
3 Shihomi Shinya JAP 175
100m Men
1 Joji Kato JAP 10.37
2 Kang-Seok Lee KOR 10.55
3 Maciej Ustynowicz POL 10.57
World Cup
1 Kang-Seok Lee KOR 220
2 Mika Poutala FIN 220
3 Joji Kato JAP 210
Team Pursuit Ladies
1 Kristina Groves, Shannon Rempel, Brittany Schussler CAN
3:02.69
2 Daniela Anschütz-Thoms, Katrin Mattscherodt, Lucille
Opitz GER 3:02.80
3 Masaki Hozumi, Hiromi Otsu, Maki Tabata JAP 3:03.15
World Cup
1 Canada 350
2 Germany 330
3 Russia 330
Team Pursuit Men
1 Sven Kramer, Wouter Olde Heuvel, Carl Verheijen NED 3:40.20
TR
2 Arne Dankers, Denny Morrison, Justin Warsylewicz CAN 3:44.97
3 Yevgeny Lalenkov, Ivan Skobrev, Aleksei Yesin RUS 3:46.75
World Cup
1 Netherlands 375
2 Canada 360
3 Norway 330
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