World championships in Hamar: Laurent Dubreuil joins a select club / Roest and Wüst in the lead

On the day two of the combined sprint/allround championships, the final day of sprint competition saw Japan dominate the sprint distances while Laurent Dubreuil offered Canada a major reason to smile. In the allround it’s Patrick Roest and Ireen Wüst who lead the way heading into the final day of competition.

By Maria Dalton
Photos 2020 © International Skating Union (ISU)

Takagi, Shinhama crowned world sprint champions

On the women’s side it was Miho Takagi, the 2018 Allround champion, who snapped up the top spot in the sprint competition in Hamar. Takagi set a new track record today in the 1000m with her time of 1:13.79  - over a second faster than the previous mark. Takagi finished atop the podium, with a new lowland world record for sprint points. Last year’s champion, fellow Japanese skater Nao Kodaira, finished in second while Russian skater Olga Fatkulina rounded off the final podium. In the second editions of the 500m and 1000m it was Nao Kodaira and Miho Takagi who finished first on the distances, respectively. 

On the men's side Tatsuya Shinhama became the first Japanese man to be crowned sprint champion since 1987. After a pair of one-two finishes on the first day, the Japanese skater closed out the weekend with a first place finish in the second 500m and a third place finish in the 1000m to stand atop the overall spring podium. Canadian Laurent Dubreuil was crowned vice-champion to become only the fourth Canadian to ever reach the podium in the events 50 year history - alongside Jeremy Wotherspoon, Gaetan Boucher and Mike Ireland. Rounding off the podium was Korean Min Kyu Cha. In the second 500m it was Tatsuya Shinhama who found himself atop the podium, while Dutchman Kjeld Nuis finished at the top of the field in the 1000m.

Double Dutch lead the way in Allround competition 

After the first day of the allround competition it was a pair of Dutch skaters, reigning champion Patrick Roest and Ireen Wust who led the way heading into the second day of competition. Roest, who had a very disappointing world championships in Salt Lake two weeks ago, is looking to bounce back from his poor performance across the pond. He will face stiff competition from Norweigian skater Sverre Lunde Pedersen who is looking for redemption from his 2018 fall at the Allround in Amsterdam, and is looking to bounce back from a bike crash last fall.  Ireen Wust, who finished 5th last year in Calgary, performed well in Hamar on day one to sit just ahead of Canadian Ivanie Blondin. 

Kramer, Russians withdraw

Competition this weekend in Hamar has seen a slew of withdrawals from skaters across the board including all three male Russian sprinters - who withdrew due to health concerns. Additionally, the legendary Sven Kramer chose not to continue competing after day one due to undisclosed family medical concerns. Canadian sprinter David La Rue was also forced to withdraw due to injury.

Stay tuned for our recap of the final day of competition later today.

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