As World cup #1 wrapped up in Obihiro, skaters competed in the men’s and women’s 1000m as well as the long-distance races and the always exciting team sprint event.
By Maria Dalton
Photo by Thomas Wendt (@freddyrace)
On the final day of the first world cup on the season many familiar faces found themselves atop the podium in the 1000m, long distance races, and team sprint. The Japanese women continued to dominate in front of the home crowd while the Dutch team finally captured their first gold medal of the season on the last day of competition in Obihiro.
Kulizhnikov, Herzog on top in the 1000m
Pavel Kulizhnikov beat out the reigning Olympic champion in the distance, Kjeld Nuis, to bring home a gold medal in the first 1000m of the season. Kulizhnikov finished with a time of 1:07.858 to set a new track record – the previous mark was 1:09.23. Kjeld Nuis skated in the same pair as Kulizhnikov, however he was no match for the Russian’s speed today on the track, finishing with a time of 1:08.392. Nuis’ compatriot Thomas Krol finished in the bronze medal position with his time of 1:08.623. Havard Lorentzen and Kai Verbij rounded out the top-5. Canadians Laurent Dubreuil and Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu were also in action today in the 1000m - finishing in 7th and 10th, respectively.
Vanessa Herzog captured her first gold medal of the season after two silver medal finishes in the 500m this weekend. Herzog finished with a time of 1:14.568 to establish a new track record, with a mere 3-tenths of a second separating her from the second and third-place finishers in what was an incredibly close race. Miho Takagi finished in second with her time of 1:14.824, while her compatriot Nao Kodaira brought home her third medal of the weekend with a time of 1:14.842. Rounding out the top-5 were Brittany Bowe and Ireen Wust.
Roest, Visser shine in long distance races
Patrick Roest kicked off the world cup season with a win in the 5000m. The 2018 world allround champion set a new track record with his time of 6:13.019 – to better the previous mark of 6:20.90 set by Sven Kramer – on route to capturing the gold medal. Alexander Rumyantsev was second with his time of 6:17.677, over 4 seconds slower than Roest. Marcel Bosker finished with a time of 6:18.121 to bring home the bronze medal. Patrick Beckert and Sverre Lunde Pedersen rounded out the top-5. Ted-Jan Bloemen was the lone Canadian in action today in the 5000m and finished in 13th with his time of 6:28.647.
Esmee Visser captured the gold medal in the first 3000m race of the world cup season with her time of 4:04.607. Skating in the third pair, Visser set a new track record – beating the previous mark of 4:04.91 set by Ireen Wust – and watched as skater after skater failed to beat her time. Natalia Voronina of Russia finished in second with her time of 4:05.023, while Martina Sablikova narrowly edged out Ivanie Blondin and finished in third with a time of 4:05.235. Besides Blondin, the only other Canadian in action in the 3k was Isabelle Weidemann who recorded a top-10 finish in ninth place with her time of 4:07.139.
Netherlands and Russia rise to the occasion in the Team Sprint
In the men’s team sprint it was the trio of Michel Mulder, Kai Verbij and Kjeld Nuis from the Netherlands who took home the gold medal with their time of 1:19.780. The team from Norway was second with their time of 1:20.79, while Canada captured their first medal of the 2018/2019 season by finishing third. On the women’s side it was Russia that captured the gold medal with their time of 1:27.230. The Japanese women brought home yet another medal, finishing in second place with their time of 1:27.350, just behind the Russian skaters. The Dutch trio of Smit, Leerdam and Beuling rounded off the podium. The Canadians were once again barely off the podium finishing in the 5th position.
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