Inzell day 4: Schouten and Mantia crowned mass start world champions

The 2019 World single distances championships ended today at the Max Aicher Arena in Inzell, Germany.

By Jackob Savard

Photo: Schaats Foto’s

To conclude the 2019 single distances championships, the best speed skaters in the world raced in the 1500m and mass start distances.

Wüst wins it on 1500m

A lot of skaters had their eyes on the 1500m title today, but it was finally the queen of speed skating Ireen Wüst who got the win. Her track record time of 1:52.814 gave her the win, finishing half a second faster than her closest rival Japan's Miho Takagi. Yesterday’s 1000m winner United States’ Brittany Bowe finished third today on 1500m.

Krol puts on a perfect 1500m race

After finishing second on 1000m yesterday, Dutch Thomas Krol skated a perfect 1500m today in Inzell to get the world champion title on the distance. Finishing second was Norwegian Sverre Lunde Pedersen who established a fast time in the seventh pair of twelve but had to settle for silver after Krol’s 1:42.582. Rounding of the podium was Russia’s Denis Yuskov.

Schouten and Mantia mass start champions

The ladies’ mass start was tight from start to finish. Irene Schouten from the Netherlands and Ivanie Blondin from Canada accelerated in the last lap to take a little gap on the pack which led them to fight one against the other in the sprint. Schouten crossed the line in first position, Blondin in second and Russian Elizaveta Kazelina in third.

The men’s race was a fast one with many accelerations and little breakaways. In the last lap, Bart Swings tried to escape the pack but crashed by himself letting Koreans Cheonho Um and Jaewon Chung and American Joey Mantia fight for the victory. Joey Mantia took advantage of a collision between the Koreans to win the sprint! Um finished second and Chung third.

For Day 1 recap click HERE

For Day 2 recap click HERE

For Day 2 recap click HERE

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