A week after the Olympic Winter Games, the sprinters gathered in Erfurt for their second to last World Cup competition.
Ladies
On the 500m, World Cup leader Jenny Wolf from Germany had no problems taking first place on both competition days. On the first day she opened in 10.26 and finished in 38.08. In second place finished Margot Boer (NED). Her time was 38.49. The surprise was Heather Richardson (USA), who finished on the World Cup podium for the first time with 38.93. Natasja Bruintjes (NED), Monique Angermüller (GER) and Annette Gerritsen (NED) followed closely, in resp. 38.94, 38.95 and 38.96.
On the second day, Wolf skated a similar race and finished in 38.10. Margot Boer was second again, with 38.41. In third place finished Dutch Thijsje Oenema, with 38.83. Gerritsen was ill and had withdrawn after the first 500m. Bruintjes was in fourth again.
Jenny Wolf leads in the World Cup with 960 points and should not have much trouble to gather at least 21 of the 300 available points next week and win the Cup again. Beixing Wang (CHN) follows with 680 and Olympic champion Sang-Hwa Lee (KOR) has 505.
On the 1000m, Monique Angermüller won her first World Cup race, in 1:16.36. She celebrated it intensely after for her disappointing results in Vancouver. Again, Margot Boer finished in second, Natasja Bruintjes was third in 1:16.59. Everybody else was slower than 1:17, with Malysheva and Van Riessen in 1:17.15 and Richardson in 1:17.31.
The second day, Olympic champion Christine Nesbitt (CAN) competed again, but had some physical problems and for the first time this season did not reach the podium. Young Russian Yekaterina Shikhova set a time of 1:16.93, which nobody managed to beat. Laurine van Riessen finished in second with 1:17.18. Margot Boer had to avoid the falling Jennifer Rodriguez (USA) and thus with 1:17.47 missed her fourth podium finish of this weekend. Bruintjes beat Angermüller in the final pair and took third place with 1:17.29.
Nesbitt is leading the World Cup with 432 points, second is Angermüller with 315. Then four Dutch ladies follow with Boer 305, Van Riessen 243, Bruintjes 241 and Gerritsen 205 points.
Men
On the first 500m men, Jan Smeekens (NED) skated an excellent race. After an opening of 9.64, he continued with a 25.3 lap and was the only one to approach the track record and skate below 35 seconds with 34.97. Yuya Oikawa (JPN) came closest. Oikawa had the fastest 100m, with 9.53, but lost some time in the lap and finished in 35.10. His pairmate Ronald Mulder (NED) reached 35.25 after 9.80 on the first 100m.
The second day, Dmitry Lobkov and Mika Poutala (FIN) simultaneously crossed the finish line in 35.22, with 0.008 added. In the next pair, Oikawa opened much faster, but finished in 35.21, only just taking over the lead. In the final pair Smeekens and Mulder were paired. Mulder fell in the outer lane, but Smeekens continued strong and made it with again 0.01 second, winning in 35.20. Poutala and Lobkov shared the bronze only 0.02 from gold.
Smeekens: “To win twice means that the first one was no accident. I made some small mistakes in the second race, hence the time difference.”
Poutala has a good lead now in the overall standings, with 621 points. Tucker Fredricks (USA), who finished in fifth place with 35.38 today, moved up to second overall with 578 points. Third is Kang-Seok Lee with 523, narrowly ahead of Kyu-Hyuk Lee with 521 points.
In the 1000m, Shani Davis (USA) won, as he has in all his 1000m races this season: 1:09.29 was his time, where especially his fast final lap (26.7) brought him the victory. That is where he overtook another Olympic champion, his pair mate Mark Tuitert (NED), who finished in 1:09.43 in second, a little faster than Stefan Groothuis (NED) who posted 1:09.48.
Davis passed Zhelezovsky with his 25th win as best skater ever in the 1000m. “Being part of history is important to me. I am very tired, but that usually goes away when I’m on the line. Mark Tuitert and me are going to have some battles. I look forward to the challenge.”
The next day, Davis had his 26th win with 1:09.25, again paired with Tuitert. Tuitert finished in 1:09.64, which was third place, as Stefan Groothuis finished second in 1:09.50.
Of course Davis also leads in the World Cup ranking with 600 points. Second is Tuitert with 320. Denny Morrison has 247, Groothuis 235, Kuipers 216. With a maximum of 150 points to earn in Heerenveen, Davis is now certain of the 1000m World Cup win.
Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating –Erfurt (GER) - Medal Winners
500m Ladies
|
1 |
Jenny Wolf |
GER |
38.08 |
|
2 |
Margot Boer |
NED |
38.49 |
|
3 |
Heather Richardson |
USA |
38.93 |
500m Men
|
1 |
Jan Smeekens |
NED |
34.97 |
|
2 |
Yuya Oikawa |
JPN |
35.10 |
|
3 |
Ronald Mulder |
NED |
35.25 |
1000m Ladies
|
1 |
Monique Angermüller |
GER |
1:16.36 |
|
2 |
Margot Boer |
NED |
1:16.48 |
|
3 |
Natasja Bruintjes |
NED |
1:16.59 |
1000m Men
|
1 |
Shani Davis |
USA |
1:09.29 |
|
2 |
Mark Tuitert |
NED |
1:09.43 |
|
3 |
Stefan Groothuis |
NED |
1:09.48 |
500m Ladies
|
1 |
Jenny Wolf |
GER |
38.10 |
|
2 |
Margot Boer |
NED |
38.41 |
|
3 |
Thijsje Oenema |
NED |
38.80 |
500m Men
|
1 |
Jan Smeekens |
NED |
35.20 |
|
2 |
Yuya Oikawa |
JPN |
35.21 |
|
3 |
Mika Poutala
Dmitrij Lobkov |
FIN
RUS |
35.22(8)
35.22(8) |
1000m Ladies
|
1 |
Yekaterina Shikhova |
RUS |
1:16.93 |
|
2 |
Laurine van Riessen |
NED |
1:17.18 |
|
3 |
Natasja Bruintjes |
NED |
1:17.29 |
1000m Men
|
1 |
Shani Davis |
USA |
1:09.25 |
|
2 |
Stefan Groothuis |
NED |
1:09.50 |
|
2 |
Mark Tuitert |
NED |
1:09.64 |
