ISU European Speed Skating Championships –Kolomna
(RUS) January 12-13, 2008
The ISU European Championships concluded on Sunday, in the
Russian town of Kolomna after two exciting days of racing.
Both reigning allround world champions won. Ireen Wüst
(NED) took the European title for the first time, and Sven
Kramer (NED) for the second time in a row. There were participants
from a record number of 19 countries, including a Spanish
skater, who chopped several seconds off the national records
on the 500 and 1500 meter.
Ladies
World Allround champion Ireen Wüst was a favorite from
the start, but last year she lost her advantage on the last
distance, and she knew the start of the season had not been
so good this year. The field held some other strong ladies,
like Martina Sáblíková (CZE), last year’s
European champion, with her strength in the long distances
as well as Claudia Pechstein and Daniela Anschütz, the
experienced German skaters.
On the 500m, Ireen Wüst finished in fourth place with
39,43, and was not satisfied: “I ran the first 300m,
I was too hasty, I didn’t skate properly.” Yet,
she did not lose much to the winner of the distance, Yekaterina
Lobysheva, who lives in Kolomna. Lobysheva won in a championships
record time: 39.24, beating Dutch junior debutant Marrit Leenstra
by only 0.02 second. Leenstra, who had never been below 40
seconds before, was the first to beat the former championships
record of Lobysheva, from two years ago. Paulien van Deutekom,
another strong Dutch lady, training partner of Wüst,
finished third in 39.40. There were 5 personal bests on this
distance.
Later the first day, the ladies skated the 3000m. Martina
Sábliková, (CZE) won this distance. She demonstrated
her power in the long distances several times this season,
and won today in 4:01.67, another championships record and
also a track record. Ireen Wüst did not lose much, she
finished second in 4:02.14 taking the lead in the ranking,
Paulien van Deutekom finished on the podium again, with 4:03.40,
and was second overall. Claudia Pechstein finished in fourth
place and was third after the first day, Anschütz in
fifth place. Renate Groenewold, double Olympic silver medalist
on this distance was in 6th place.. 18-year-old Marrit Leenstra
impressed with her second pb of the day, putting herself in
a good position for this year’s Junior World Championships.
Wüst went on the next day to increase her lead and to
also win the 1500m. Her time was 1:56.88. Paulien van Deutekom
came close, but had to wait a bit for Wüst who had right
of way at the second crossing. The time of Van Deutekom was
1:57.07 and the third person on the podium was again Marrit
Leenstra, who clocked a strong 1.57,24, keeping Pechstein
0.04 behind her. Fifth was Anschütz, sixth Sábliková,
who kept her 6th place in the ranking, ahead of Groenewold
and Lobysheva. The question was, how many places the Czech
might gain in the 5000, the distance where she won the championships
last year. The difference between Wüst and Van Deutekom
was very small after three distances, and basically anything
could still happen.
The 5000 brought another personal best for Marrit Leenstra,
but her 7:16.55 was not enough to climb beyond the sixth place
overall, a great debut for a junior. Paulien van Deutekom
then fought the battle with Claudia Pechstein, expecting the
German to have a strong finish. However, Van Deutekom was
in good shape and skated a pb of 7:02.40 and beat Pechstein
even on the distance. The German would have her third fourth
place finish this weekend with 7:05.84. In the final pair,
Ireen Wüst took the lead over Sábliková,
expecting the Czech to finish strongly and overtake her to
win the race. This did happen, but later than Wüst had
expected. The Dutch stayed focused, and knew she needed to
be below 7.04.8 or else Van Deutekom would take the title.
This time, Wüst did not fail. She managed to drop her
laptimes slightly, finishing with a personal best of 6:57.87,
the second place on the distance, as Martina Sábliková
had set a track record and taken Gunda Niemann’s championships
record: 6:53.42.
Thus Wüst was crowned champion; with 160.533 points,
two points below the former CR of Anni Friesinger. Second
was Paulien van Deutekom and Sábliková managed
to climb up to the third place in front of Pechstein.
Men
Defending champion Sven Kramer (NED) showed good spirit against
Enrico Fabris (ITA) last year. This year there was a young
Norwegian, Håvard Bøkko, a year younger than
Kramer, who was an equally strong allround skater and who
could mix join the contenders. Behind these three, there was
Wouter Olde Heuvel from the Netherlands, team-mate of Kramer,
and some Russians, Germans, Dutch and Norwegians who were
the main competitors for the top 12 places.
The 500m was a close race. It is traditionally the weakest
distance of Sven Kramer, but he had been working hard on it.
Here, he was one of nine men to skate a personal best on this
distance, and his 36,20 was surprisingly not bettered. Second
was Konrad Niedzwiedzki from Poland in 36,21 and Yevgenij
Lalenkov from Russia finished third, in 36,22.
On the 5000m, everybody knew ahead that Sven Kramer could
win. Especially since he skated in the last pair together
with his team-mate Olde Heuvel and knew what to aim for. There
was only one pb in this distance, of debutant Ben Jongejan
(NED). The final three pairs featured the top contenders.
First Håvard Bøkko, who approached his pb with
5 seconds, finishing in 6.17,45, climbing up after his fourth
place in the 500m. Enrico Fabris finished in 6.17,86 behind
Bøkko. In the final pair, Kramer and Olde Heuvel started
out on a fast pace with 29 laps, Kramer even a 28.3 to start
with, and where Olde Heuvel had to leave that schedule towards
the end, Kramer kept it and finished in a championships record
and track record of 6.11,78. Olde Heuvel came within a second
and a half from his personal best, and his 6.17,69 brought
him to the podium behind Bøkko. After day one, Kramer
had a safe lead, followed by Bøkko, Olde Heuvel and
Fabris.
People thought after the 500m, that Kramer would win four
distances, but they were proven wrong in the 1500m. On this
distance, six skaters improved their best times, Wouter Olde
Heuvel and Ben Jongejan were among them. But a really fast
time was skated by Yevgenij Lalenkov, who made the day for
the Russians in the stands, by his 1:45.25 track record. Enrico
Fabris came close in the next pair, but just missed it in
spite of a 27.4 final lap. He finished in second place, 1:45.45.
Fabris passed Olde Heuvel to take over the third place overall.
In the final pair the two leaders in the ranking skated. Kramer
had a strong second full lap, 26,9 but his last lap was 28,0,
slower than Fabris, and it brought him 1:45.52, third place.
Bøkko finished in fourth place, 1:46.12. “I didn’t
need to win, although I would have liked to”, Kramer
said. “I wanted to be safe, and not take any risk in
the turns. It’s an allround tournament after all.”
In the 10,000m, both Dutch Jongejan and Olde Heuvel improved
their pbs, and so did Håvard Bøkko. The Norwegian
had a close race with Sven Kramer in the last pair, and Kramer
played with him, staying close until two laps before the end,
Kramer started sprinting and threw in a lap faster than his
1500m closing lap: 27.9, which he told to some friends before
the race that he would do. This way, Kramer won the 10,000m
in 13:03.30, track record and championships record once again,
and Bøkko finished in second place with 13:06.42. In
third place it was Fabris, who had a hard time keeping Olde
Heuvel behind him, until the last 2000m. Fabris had 13:14.22
and Olde Heuvel 13:17.08, they finished third and fourth overall.
The points total of Kramer was a championships record as
well, 147.716. Håvard Bøkko was also faster than
the old mark, with 148:759. Then came Fabris with 149.407,
Olde Heuvel with 149.836 and then there was a gap to the fifth
man, Russian Ivan Skobrev with 151.546 points.
ISU European Speed Skating Championships –Collalbo
(ITA) - Medal Winners
500m Ladies
1 Yekaterina Lobysheva RUS 39.24 CR
2 Marrit Leenstra NED 39.26
3 Paulien van Deutekom NED 39.40
500m Men
1 Sven Kramer NED 36.20 PR
2 Konrad Niedzwiedzki POL 36.21
3 Yevgenij Lalenkov RUS 36.22
3000m Ladies
1 Martina Sábliková CZE 4:01.67CR, TR
2 Ireen Wüst NED 4:02.14
3 Paulien van Deutekom NED 4:03.40
5000m Men
1 Sven Kramer NED 6:11.78 CR
2 Håvard Bøkko NOR 6:17.45
3 Wouter Olde Heuvel NED 6:17.69
1500m Ladies
1 Ireen Wüst NED 1:56.88
2 Paulien van Deutekom NED 1:57.07
3 Marrit Leenstra NED 1:57.24
1500m Men
1 Yevgenij Lalenkov RUS 1:45.25 TR
2 Enrico Fabris ITA 1:45.45
3 Sven Kramer NED 1:45.52
5000m Ladies
1 Martina Sábliková CZE 6:53.42CR, TR
2 Ireen Wüst NED 6:57.87
3 Paulien van Deutekom NED 7:02.40
10,000m Men
1 Sven Kramer NED 13:03.30 TR, CR
2 Håvard Bøkko NOR 13:06.42
3 Enrico Fabris ITA 13:14.22
TOTAL Ladies
1 Ireen Wüst NED 160.533 CR
39.43(4)-4:02.14(2)-1:56.88(1)-6:57.87(2)
2 Paulien van Deutekom NED 161.229
39.40(3)-4:03.40(3)-1:57.07(2)-7:02.40(3)
3 Martina Sábliková CZE 161.693
40.58(11)-4:01.67(1)-1:58.48(6)-6:53.42(1)
TOTAL Men
1 Sven Kramer NED 147.716 CR, TR
36.20(1)-6:11.78(1)-1:45.52(3)-13:03.30(1)
2 Håvard Bøkko NOR 148.759
36.32(4)-6:17.45(2)-1:46.12(4)-13:06.42(2)
3 Enrico Fabris ITA 149.407
36.76(7)-6:17.86(4)-1:45.45(2)-13:14.22(3)
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