Exciting mass start event to conclude the Olympics in speed skating

Mass start races concluded the speed skating events of the Olympics today at the Gangneung oval in front of a roaring crowd.

By Jackob Savard

Photos: Thomas di Nardo (https://www.thomasdinardo.com) & Schaats Foto’s

It was the first time that the spectacular mass start event was raced at the Olympic games.

Ladies’ semifinals

Francesca Lollobrigida from Italy was dominant in the first semifinal gathering some sprint laps’ points and crossing the finish line in first position. The inline speed skating specialist came to Pyeongchang as one of the favorite to win the mass start. Canada’s Keri Morrison did a perfect race and finished in third place to qualify for the final alongside Dan Guo, Irene Schouten, Nana Takagi and Kim Bo-reum who also finished in the top 8.

There was a bit more action in the second ladies semifinal as Ivanie Blondin fell and took out Ayano Sato and Annouk van der Weijden. Sato and Blondin, who are respectively fourth and sixth in the World cup classification, would not take part in the finale. Van der Weijden managed to come back to the pack and finished second despite the fall. A medal on the distance would help her sweetened her heartbreaking fourth place on 5000m.

Men’s semifinals

Linus Heidegger from Austria was the first to pass the finish line in the first semifinal after a little breakaway with Andrea Giovannini from Italy and Shane Williamson from Japan. The three qualified for the main event. Other favorites including Lee Seung-Hoon, Alexis Contin, Koen Verweij and Olivier Jean also qualified for the final as they concluded the race in the top 8.

Peter Michael raced with confidence in the second semi and was the first to finish the 16 laps race. Almost every skater got sprint points in this race and it was a matter of who got the most. Sven Kramer who was racing in his first mass start of the season did a solid race and collected 6 points to earn his ticket for the A final. Inline speed skating specialists Bart Swings, Livio Wenger and Joey Mantia also managed  to qualify.

Ladies' final

Saskia Alusalu started her race like she did in Calgary earlier this season by trying to escape the pack with a breakaway. The pack came back on her with 3 laps to go to prepare for the sprint. Nana Takagi from Japan won the sprint finishing ahead of crowd favorite’s Kim Bo-reum and Irene Schouten from the Netherlands. Alusalu got fourth place with the 15 points she won in the intermediate sprints. Lollobrigida who’s leading the mass start World cup classification finished in 7th.

Men’s final

A lot of skaters tried to escape from the pack in the final but it was finally the sprint that decided the podium. Nobody was able to beat Korean star Lee Seung-hoon in the last stretch. His 16 years old teammate Jaewon Chung as a little bit to do with this victory as he leaded the chase group for a long time to help Lee come back on the breakaway and fight in the sprint. Bart Swings from Belgium and Koen Verweij from the Netherlands finished in second and third. Livio Wenger who was in the breakaway for the majority of the race finished fourth with 11 points. The 2017 World championships medalists on the distance Joey Mantia, Alexis Contin et Olivier Jean had a difficult race and finished 9th, 10th and 14th.

That’s it for speed skating at the Olympic games! The next long track event will be the Sprint world championships that will be held in Changchun, China on 3th and 4th March.

Visit our special coverage page to find all our articles related to Pyeongchang 2018 by clicking HERE

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Ireen Wüst wins gold as Takagi spoils a Dutch podium sweep

The Dutch domination continues as Ireen Wüst and Marrit Leenstra find themselves on the podium with Miho Takagi of Japan.

By Maria Dalton

Photos by Schaats Foto’s

Ireen Wüst becomes the All-time leader

Ireen Wust wins her 10th Olympic medal and surpasses Claudia Pechstein as the all-time leader. This is Ireen Wust’s second medal of the games, having won a silver medal in the 3000m a few days earlier. Wüst has previously announced that the 2018 Olympics would be her last games and with one more event left (team pursuit), she has the chance to win an additional medal to bring her total to 11 career Olympic medals. The Olympic record of 1:53:31 set in Sochi by Jorien Ter Mors, who was part of the Dutch podium sweep in 2014, was not broken.

Takagi spoils a Dutch podium sweep

Miho Takagi’s strong skating in the final pair allowed her to grab the silver medal and prevented a second Dutch podium sweep. She got off to a blazing start and was on pace to surpass Ireen Wüst for the gold medal, however she faded coming out of the final corner and was two tenths of a second off Wüst’s time. Coming into these Olympic games Takagi was ranked number one in the World cup standings for the 1500m, having been unbeaten this season (note: she did not compete in the final World cup in Erfurt, GER). Rounding out the podium was Marrit Leenstra of the Netherlands with a time of 1:55.26. This is her second Olympic medal, having previously won gold in Sochi in Team pursuit.

No medals for Canada

The highest Canadian finisher for the women’s 1500m race was Brianne Tutt of Airdrie, AB who finished in 15th with a time of 1:58.77. Tutt raced in the 11th pair against Ireen Wüst, who pulled ahead at the mid point of the race and went on to eventually capture the gold medal. Her finish at the Olympics is an improvement on her 35th place finish from the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. Kali Christ finished in 19th place with a time of 1:59.42, while Josie Morrison who is competing in her first Olympic games came in 21st with a time of 1:59.77.

Crowd favourite Korean

Once again the lone Korean skater in the group Seon-Yeong Noh was a crowd favourite and posted a time of 1:58.75. Yu-Tiang Huang of Chinese Taipei, who is part of the ISU development transition program, only made the switch from inline skating to speed skating in 2015 and is the first woman to ever participate in the sport for her country. Unfortunately, she suffered a fall in the final corner but managed to finish the race in a time of 2:18.84. Maryna Zuyeva of Belarus was disqualified due to an issue with her crossover in her pair with Ruining Tian of China.

Visit our special coverage page to find all our articles related to Pyeongchang 2018 by clicking HERE.

Results - W1500m

1-Ireen Wust (NED) – 1:54.35

2-Miho Takagi (JPN) – 1:54.55

3-Marrit Leenstra (NED) – 1:55.26

4-Lotte Van Beek (NED) – 1:55.27

5-Brittany Bowe (USA) – 1:55.54

6-Nao Kodaira (JPN) – 1:56.11

7-Ida Njatun (NOR) – 1:56.46

8-Heather Bergsma (USA) – 1:56.74

9-Natalia Czerwonka (POL) – 1:57.85

10-Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) – 1:57.94

11-Nikola Zdrajalova (CZE) – 1:58.03

12-Gabrielle Hirschbichler (GER) – 1:58.25

13-Matarzyna Bachleda-Curus (POL) – 1:58.53

14-Seon-Yeong Noh (KOR) – 1:58.75

15-Brianne Tutt (CAN) – 1:58.77

16-Ayaka Kikuchi (JPN) – 1:58.92

17-Luiza Zlotkowsa (POL) – 1:58.98

18-Yekaterina Aydova (KAZ) – 1:59.05

19-Kali Christ (CAN) – 1:59.52

20-Jiachen Hao (CHN) – 1:59.58

21-Josie Morrison (CAN) – 1:59.77

22-Mia Manganello (USA) – 1:59.94

23-Ruining Tian (CHN) – 2:00.29

24-Roxanne Dufter (CAN) – 2:00.33

25-Francesca Bettrone (ITA) – 2:00.43

26-Yu-Tiang Huang (TPE) – 2:18.84

27-Maryna Zuyeva (BLR) – DQ

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Gold medal and records for Sven Kramer, Bloemen gets silver

Sven Kramer makes history by setting a new Olympic record and becoming the first man to win three consecutive gold medals in the 5000m.

By Maria Dalton

Photo by Schaats Foto's

On a night that saw both a false start and a photo finish, both relatively uncommon in long distance races, it was Sven Kramer that stole the show with his record setting performance.

Three in a row for Sven Kramer

Kramer started off on pace with the Ted-Jan Bloeman’s time but pulled away and continued to build momentum over the course of the race. He broke his previous Olympic record of 6:10.76 (set in Sochi in 2014) with his gold medal winning time of 6:09.76. With this gold medal he becomes the first man to ever win three consecutive gold medals in the 5000m, further solidifying his place as one the greatest skaters of all time. Sven Kramer’s race today in the 5,000m gives us a good idea of the type of racing we can expect to see from him in the 10,000m later this week.

The pair of Ted-Jan Bloeman and Sverre Lunde Pedersen rounded out the podium. Both skaters started strong, with Bloeman getting off to a quick start and Pedersen trailing. Pedersen overtook Bloeman during the middle portion of the race when the Canadian seemed to get a bit tense and lose some momentum. However, the last two laps saw Bloeman push back and overtake Pedersen, and in a photo finish not commonly seen in distance races, it was Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloeman who came out on top to capture the silver medal, with the Norwegian settling for bronze.

Lee Seung-Hoon had the crowd behind him as the lone Korean skater in the men’s 5000m where he fought through the second half of the race to post a time of 6:14.15 – enough for a fifth place finish.

Canada’s first speed skating medal
Canada’s first speed skating medal came courtesy of Ted-Jan Bloeman. His time of 6:11.616 was enough to beat out Sverre Lunde Pedersen of Norway for the silver medal. Competing in his first Olympic games, Ted-Jan Bloeman who was born in the Netherlands, has started off with a bang and given us a taste for what’s to come later in the week with the 10,000m.  Ted moved to Canada in 2014 and has been solid in the lead up to the 2018 Olympic games. This past December, Bloeman broke Sven Kramer’s 5000m world record in Salt Lake City, a record that had stood for 10 years. Bloeman’s silver medal is the first medal in the 5000m for a Canadian man since Willy Logan won bronze at the 1932 games in Lake Placid. Ted-Jan Bloeman’s performance today marks an important milestone in the history of the Canadian program.

If the results today are any indication of what’s to come later in the week, we are certain that as the competition rolls on we will continue to see more great skating from the Gangneung Oval.

Visit our special coverage page to find all our articles related to Pyeongchang 2018 by clicking HERE.

Results - M5000m

1-Sven Kramer (NED) – 6:09.76

2-Ted-Jan Bloeman (CAN) – 6:11.61

3-Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR) – 6:11.61

4-Peter Michael (NZL) – 6:14.07

5-Lee Seung-Hoon (KOR) – 6:14.15

6-Bart Swings (BEL) – 6:14.57

7-Jan Blokhuijsen (NED) – 6:14.75

8-Nicola Tumolero (ITA) – 6:15.48

9-Seitaro Ichinohe (JPN) – 6:16.55

10-Patrick Beckert (GER) – 6:17.91

11-Alexis Contin (FRA) – 6:18.13

12-Moritz Geisreiter (GER) – 6:18.34

13-Simen Spieler Neilsen (NOR) – 6:18.39

14-Nils Van Der Poel (SWE) – 6:19.06

15-Bob De Vries (NED) – 6:22.26

16-Ryosuke Tsuchiya (JPN) – 6:22.45

17-Livio Wenger (SUI) – 6:24.16

18-Havard Bokko (NOR) – 6:24.51

19-David Ghiotto (ITA) – 6:29.25

20-Andrea Giovannini (ITA) – 6:30.71

21-Emery Lehman (USA) – 6:31.17

22-Adrien Wielgat (POL) – 6:31.71

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Golden day for Canada in Salt Lake City

ISU World Cup #4 started today in Salt Lake City.

By Jackob Savard

Photo: Schaats Foto’s

The skaters raced on 500m, team pursuit and mass start semis on day 1 of the competition.

Nao Kodaira makes it six out of six on 500m

Nao Kodaira from Japan continued her 500m domination with her victory in the first 500m of the weekend. She also established a new japanese record with her time of 36.50. Sang-Hwa Lee and Arisa Go completed the podium.

Boisvert-Lacroix wins another 500m

The Canadian Alex Boisvert-Lacroix wins the 500m of the day in front of Mika Poutala from Finland and Ronald Mulder from the Netherlands. Mulder climbed to the top of the World cup classification with this third place as Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen, leader after the first three legs of the season, finished 11th today.  

A new world record in the team pursuit

The Japanese team composed of Miho Takagi, Ayano Sato and Nana Takagi established the new world record with a time of 2:50.87. They finished almost 5 seconds ahead of team Netherlands. Team Germany finished in third.

Canada got the gold in the men’s category with a great team performance. Italy and New Zealand finished second and third.

The race will continue tomorrow with a second  500m, the 1500m and mass start finals.

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Boisvert-Lacroix back on the podium in Calgary

The long track World cup #3 ended today in Calgary with the last distances on the program.

By Jackob Savard

Photo: Schaats Foto’s

The skaters fighted on the 500m, 1500m and mass start to end the third World cup event of the season.

The quest for the junior world record

The young David La Rue from Canada established a new junior world record in the B group where he finished fourth. Later in the day, Norway’s Allan Dahl Johansson broke the record for the second time of the day with a time of 1:43.13 and finished 5th in the A group.

Boisvert-Lacroix back on the podium

The Canadian Alex Boisvert-Lacroix triumphed in an animated 500m! What a race for the skater from Sherbrooke, Qc who was back on the highest step of the podium on his favorite distance. Min Kyu Cha from Korea and Mika Poutala from Finland completed the podium. The ice was not resurfaced after the ladies’ 1500m and some falls and mishaps happened.

Nao Kodaira from Japan continued her 500m domination by winning this distance for the fifth time of the season. Sang-Hwa Lee from Korea and Arisa Go from Japan completed the podium. The Japanese were really impressive and placed four skaters in the top 10 of the distance.

Takagi too strong on 1500m

Miho Takagi from Japan won her third 1500m of the season with a time of 1:51.79. Marrit Leenstra from the Netherlands and Yekaterina Shikhova from Russia completed the podium. Lotte van Beek who was second overall finished with a surprisingly low 15th place.

Denis Yuskov from Russia took gold in the 1500m in front of Koen Verweij and Kjeld Nuis both from the Netherlands. Yuskov and Verweij both skated new national records on the distance. U.S.A.’s Joey Mantia, first on the overall ranking before this week’s race, finished fourth and is now in second place overall behind Yuskov.

Breakaways were the key in the mass start

A lot of surprises in the mass start event! In the ladies’ race, Claudia Pechstein, Elena Moeller Rigas and Nana Takagi got the advantage over the favorites with a strong breakaway. They were initially chasing Saskia Alusalu and continued the effort to reach the finish line ahead of the main group. Andrea Giovannini from Italy took a chance with a long breakaway that finally paid off as he almost lapped the whole pack on the men’s side. Reyon Kay and Hongli Wang completed this surprising podium.

You can read our day 1 recap HERE

You can read our day 2 recap HERE

The next World cup will be next weekend in Salt Lake City

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Kodaira and Lorentzen on top of the competition on day 1 in Heerenveen

The international season in long track speed skating was launched today in Heerenveen with the first World cup races of the season.

By Jackob Savard

Photo: Schaats Foto’s

Day 1 was composed of the 500m #1, the team pursuit and the mass start semi-finals.

The day started with victories from Jan Smeekens and Brittany Bowe in the B group of the 500m. The two olympians will most likely get to the A group very quickly.  

The ladies A group 500m was won by Nao Kodaira as she finished in front of Sang Hwa-Lee from Korea and Angelina Golikov of Russia. Kodaira established the new track record with a fast time of 37.29. Norwegian star Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen  was the fastest in the men’s competition. Nico Ihle from and Kai Verbij completed the top 3.

The men’s team pursuit was won by Korea. Norway and New Zealand completed the top 3. The dutch team finished with a surprisingly low 10th position. Jorrit Bergsma did not seem in great shape and could hardly follow his teammates. The japanese team was victorious in the ladies team pursuit event finishing ahead of the Netherlands and Canada.

The majority of the mass start favorites qualified in their semi-finals and will compete in tomorrow's final.

Competition continues tomorrow with the 500m #2, 1500m and mass start finals.

You can find the complete results of the day here

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Journée payante pour le Canada à Dordrecht

Le Canada a été dominant en cette première journée du tableau principal à Dordrecht. Voici notre résumé vidéo de la journée. 

Pour acceder à notre résumé du jour 4 clickez ICI.                                                                                                       

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Overview of the qualifying rounds in Dordrecht

Text: Carl Savard

Photo: Martin Holtom

It is in Dordrecht, Netherlands that short track speed skaters meet this weekend for the second leg of the World cup circuit.

On Thursday and Friday, skaters battled to qualify for the big show coming up this weekend. Even though most top skaters go through this  part of the competition without too many bumps, short track speed skating is always full of surprises.

Here are the skaters who missed their chance to battle it out this weekend.

1500m

On 1500m, Korean legend turned Russian Viktor Ahn was penalised in the first round. Netherland’s Daan Breeuwsma will also miss the 1500m semis due to a fall in the second round.

For the women, Yara van Kerkhof and Tifany Huot-Marchand who both qualified on the distance last week were not able to do so yesterday.

500m

Like always, there was plenty of action on 500m and a few big names were not able to qualify for the quarter-finals. Liu Shaolin Sándor will not be able to repeat his 500m win from Budapest as he finished third in his wave behind China’s Wu Dajing and the surprising Bartosz Konopko from Poland. American skater John Henry-Krueger is also out of the 500m.

On the women’s side, Germany’s Anna Seidel suffered a fall, French skater Veronique Pierron was stucked in a very tough wave and Dutch star Suzanne Schulting was penalised… once again.

1000m

On 1000m, Sofia Prosvirnova and Kim A Lang were penalised in the first round while Elise Christie did not skate the distance. An injury bothered her last week in Budapest. Véronique Pierron could not make it pass the second round.

The biggest surprise on Friday came from Liu Shaolin Sándor being out of a second distance in Dordrecht. The Hungarian star will only be part of the 1500m and the relay this weekend.

Talking about the relay, on the women's side Japan and France were not able to get their tickets for the big show while on the men's side, Kazakhstan is the notable absentee.

Click HERE to see who will battle who this weekend!

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