Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating – Inzell (GER)
The eighth of nine Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating events
this season concluded Sunday in Inzell (GER). The world’s
top sprint skaters gathered to contend the 100, 500 and 1000
meter distances.
Ladies
Jenny Wolf secured the 500m World Cup with her 6th and 7th
win in a row on such a 500m. The first race she started with
10.23, but the lap was hard, and she finished in 38.66. The
next day the opening was two tenth slower, but there her lap
was better and she finished in 38.51. No track record, but
the main thing for her was that she now gathered 1160 points,
and can’t be overtaken anymore. Beixing Wang, third
in the ranking with 520 points, did not start, which made
it possible for Dutch Annette Gerritsen to secure her second
place. She finished in second place both races, first 39.54,
then 39.13 and has now 748 points. Svetlana Kajkan from Russia
is traditionally strong on outdoor ice and made the podium
both days as well. On Saturday, she had to share the third
place with Sayuri Yoshii, with 39.61. On Sunday she reached
39.31. Yoshii and Kajkan now have 513 ad 501 points, which
is not far behind Wang. In the 1000m, German Anni Friesinger
could secure the overall World Cup victory. Going into this
weekend, she led with 660 points, Chiara Simionato from Italy
had 440, and then Christine Nesbitt, with 370 points, little
ahead of Wüst with 352 points. But both Simionato and
Nesbitt did not start here, which opened a door to Wüst.
Friesinger won both days, and Wüst finished in second
place. Shannon Rempel skated well gaining two third places.
Friesinger skated 1.17,78 the first day, and the next day
1:16.45. Wüst had 1:18.79 and 1:17.95 and Rempel 1:19.24
and 1:18.41. This meant that with one 1000m to go, Anni Friesinger
wins the 1000m World Cup with 860 points. Ireen Wüst
passed Nesbitt and Simionato in the ranking to gather 512
points, and in third place it’s still Simionato (440)
but Shannon Rempel climbed to fourth, with 411 points and
could still make the podium next week.
In the 100m, just like the races in Erfurt, Jenny Wolf won,
ahead of her compatriot Judith Hesse and Shihomi Shinya from
Japan. They skated 10.44, 10.50 and 10.56 in the final.
Men
In the 500m men, Jeremy Wotherspoon (CAN) lost his first
race of this season. On Saturday, Joji Kato from Japan had
an excellent race and won with 35.48. Wotherspoon was second,
in 35.61, and Keiichiro Nagashima from Japan was third with
35.82. The next day, Wotherspoon set things straight. This
time, his opening 100m was more careful, but his lap was 25.5
and his time 35.35. Nagashima finished second, with 35.70,
and he shared this with his pair mate, Wotherspoon’s
team mate Mike Ireland, who took the World Sprint title in
2001 in this same rink. Joji Kato finished in fourth place
this time. The Korean sprinters were absent, and Kang- Seok
Lee who had the lead in this distance, lost it to Jeremy Wotherspoon,
who has 780 points. Lee has 712, and Dmitrij Lobkov followed
with 584 points, followed by Finnish Mika Poutala with 549,
who overtook Joon Mun and Kyou-Hyuk Lee.
Only in the 1000m men the track record was broken, not yet
on Saturday, where the mark of 1:10.10 from Even Wetten, the
World Champion of 2005, stood up to Shani Davis (USA), who
won in 1:10.58. There were only five others who broke the
1:12 barrier, and Wotherspoon with 1:12.01 was not among them.
Canadian Denny Morrison finished in second place, with 1:11.03,
and the others were all Dutch, with Jan Bos leading them and
taking third with 1:11.26.
The next day, the podium saw the same faces, but the times
were much faster. First, Jeremy Wotherspoon had skated 1:10.72,
and was leading, when Denny Morrison in the next pair was
almost a second faster than him, just like the first day,
and took the track record, 1:09.86. In the last pair, Shani
Davis and Jan Bos were paired. Bos had a fast opening, and
in the second half of the race, the Olympic champion overtook
him. Davis won in a track record of 1:09.65, and Bos finished
third, also below the former TR with 1:09.94. Davis has now
690 points; Morrison is still in contention with 616 points,
and Jan Bos with 505 points is third, ahead of Jeremy Wotherspoon
with 420.
Mark Nielsen, a 100m specialist from Canada, won the 100m
in 9.55; in second place was Mika Poutala with 9.69, the Finnish
skater had seemed to take it easy in the 1000m a bit earlier,
but it was worth it: he is currently the leader in the World
Cup with 130 points and one race to go. Nielsen and Kang-Seok
Lee share second place with 100 points. On Sunday third place
went to Dag-Erik Kleven from Norway with 9.78 who had won
his heat in the semi-finals and thus qualified for the A-final.
Jeremy Wotherspoon gathered 142,325 points this weekend over
four distances, which is a new track record for sprint points.
The old record was 143,125 for Ireland in 2001. Next weekend
there will be the Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating Final
in Heerenveen (NED) only for the A-division skaters, including
the winners of the last B-division. This includes the Olympic
champion of 10 years ago, Hiroyasu Shimizu, who won the B-division
500m in Inzell.
Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating – Inzell
(GER) - Medal Winners
500m Ladies Saturday
1 Jenny Wolf GER 38.66
2 Annette Gerritsen NED 39.54
3 Sayuri Yoshii JPN 39.61
Svetlana Kajkan RUS
500m Men Saturday
1 Joji Kato JPN 35.48
2 Jeremy Wotherspoon CAN 35.61
3 Keiichiro Nagashima JPN 35.82
1000m Ladies Saturday
1 Anni Friesinger GER 1:17.78
2 Ireen Wüst NED 1:18.79
3 Shannon Rempel CAN 1:19.24
1000m Men Saturday
1 Shani Davis USA 1:10.58
2 Denny Morrison CAN 1:11.03
3 Jan Bos NED 1:11.26
500m Ladies Sunday
1 Jenny Wolf GER 38.51
2 Annette Gerritsen NED 39.13
3 Svetlana Kajkan RUS 39.31
500m Men Sunday
1 Jeremy Wotherspoon CAN 35.35
2 Keiichiro Nagashima JPN 35.70
2 Mike Ireland CAN 35.70
1000m Ladies Sunday
1 Anni Friesinger GER 1:16.45
2 Ireen Wüst NED 1:17.95
3 Shannon Rempel CAN 1:18.41
1000m Men Sunday
1 Shani Davis USA 1:09.65 TR
2 Denny Morrison CAN 1:09.86
3 Jan Bos NED 1:09.94
100m Ladies Sunday
1 Jenny Wolf GER 10.44
2 Judith Hesse GER 10.50
3 Shihomi Shinya JPN 10.56
100m Men Sunday
1 Mark Nielsen CAN 9.55
2 Mika Poutala FIN 9.69
2 Dag-Erik Kleven NOR 9.78
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