Sven Kramer (NED) and Martina Sáblíková (CZE) for the men and ladies respectively, won the two-day Essent ISU European Speed Skating Championships 2010, which were held in Hamar (NOR) this weekend. It was the last international meet for the allround skaters before the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Participants from 20 different countries competed indoors in the weekend where the skating world said goodbye to the old Hamar outdoor stadium which over the years had seen many skaters become champions. With minus 30° outside, the move to an indoor rink was heartily welcomed by skaters and public alike.

Ladies
The ladies’ competition had 2007 champion Martina Sábliková (CZE) as main favourite. Other candidates for the podium were Daniela Anschütz-Thoms (GER, 2009 runner-up), 2008 champion Ireen Wüst (NED) and her teammate and former world champion Paulien van Deutekom. Newcomer Stephanie Beckert (GER) with her impressive long distances would have podium chances too.
Karolina Erbanová from Czech republic won the 500m in 39.54. Two skaters skated a personal best time, both Norwegian girls, still juniors. Hege Bøkko 39.76, which was good enough for bronze, and Ida Njåtun with 40.58 was 8^th, a good debut for her home crowd.
Yekaterina Shikhova (RUS), who fell last year in the 500m, took the silver in 39.56. Of the favourites for the title, Ireen Wüst was the fastest with her fourth place and 39.77, but the 7^th place of Martina Sáblíková with 40.45 was strong enough for the Czech world champion. Daniela Anschütz-Thoms’ 40.74 virtually out of the list with favourites.
In the 3000 meters, the Norwegian girls both skated around their personal best again (4:21), whereas most people were far behind their best time due to the cold and the high air pressure. A bit surprising was the good 3000m of Yekaterina Lobysheva (RUS), who set 4:14.75 in the fourth pair, bringing her in the lead with 82.268 points. Skaters like Van Deutekom and Vysokova (Russian champion on that distance) didn’t manage to take over the distance lead. Eventually, Lobysheva was 8^th on the distance, but after the first day was third in the overall ranking, ahead of Anschütz-Thoms among others. In pair 10, Sáblíková beat Beckert, with 4:03.09 versus 4:08.76, a much larger gap than earlier this season. The Germans say that it is because they have continued training hard last week in their way towards the Olympics, but so have the Czechs and many others. Sáblíková took over the lead with 80.965 points. Ireen Wüst skated 4:08.40, taking the silver on the distance in front of Beckert and moving to second place overall with 81.170 points. Anschütz-Thoms took fourth both in distance and points.
The next day on the 1500m the air pressure was still high and the times somewhat slow. Yekaterina Shikhova was the first below 2 minutes with 1:59.77, which brought her just behind the podium. Anschütz-Thoms had a good race with enough strength until the end and finished in 1:59.57, when in the final pair Ireen Wüst was faster than Martina Sáblíková and won in 1:59.08, taking over the lead overall with 120.863 points. Sáblíková was not far behind; she took the bronze on the distance with 1:59.75 and with 120.881 point would have to gain only 0.18 second on Wüst on the last distance.
Stephanie Beckert, as expected, skated a fast 5000m. 7:04.55 was her time, with laps between 32.7 (final lap) and 34.0. With meager results on the short distances, Beckert’s points were 168.598. Her pair mate Maren Haugli was following 8 seconds behind her, but her 7:12.81 was a strong time, which stood until Anschütz-Thoms skated 7:12.02. With 165.343 points, the German was certain of another podium spot. Wüst was racing Sáblíková in the final pair. The Czech champion had no problem with the mark set by Beckert. Sovereign she set out, away from Wüst, laps between 32.5 and 33.5, finishing under 7 minutes in 6:59.44 and reaching 162.825 points. Wüst secured her second place overall with a very reasonable 7:13.40, bringing her to 164.204 points. Anschütz-Thoms took the bronze and surprisingly fourth was Yekaterina Lobysheva, with 166.996 points, a skater from the Russian sprint team, who had been ill earlier this season and now was performing on the longer distances rather than on the shorter ones. Her 7:27.02 was a personal best time. Home favourite Maren Haugli finished in fifth overall (167.088 points).
Men
In the men’s championships, three-times champion Sven Kramer (NED) went into the event hoping for a fourth-in-a-row win. Competition would come from Håvard Bøkko (NOR), but also the 2006 champion Enrico Fabris (ITA) who was the fastest man this year on the 5000 and is Olympic 1500m champion. This summer he had joined forces with Russian Ivan Skobrev and French Alexis Contin. Kramer’s teammate Wouter Olde-Heuvel was third last year, but had a more problematic season due to knee trouble.
There was also a remarkable participation (12^th place on the 500m, 9^th in the 1500m) of the Latvian skater, Harald Silovs. It is the first year since Alfons Berzins in 1939 that there is a Latvian man in the long track European Championships; Silovs was European Short Track Champion in 2008 and will be the first person in history to skate both long track and short track in the same Olympics.
On the 500 meters, Bøkko had a very fast opening but fell in the last outer turn. Injuring his shoulder, he not only lost the chance to reach the overall podium, but he had to withdraw from the remainder of the tournament to give his shoulder rest for a week.
Sven Kramer skated 36.60, not enough for the distance podium but 0.04 faster than Fabris who was fifth, after losing his balance in the first turn. Skobrev had 36.76. Polish Konrad Niedzwiedzki reached the 500m podium for the 5th European Championships in a row and this time again he was on top, with 36.07. Matteo Anesi (ITA) had his first individual medal with 36.52 and Daniel Friberg (SWE) took third with 36.56. Six different nationalities took medals in the 500m ladies and men.
In the 5000m, the first surprise came from Joel Eriksson (SWE) who was in the first pair skated 6:38.77 and finished high enough in the ranking to qualify for the fourth distance. The time stood until halfway. Then the faster skaters came. Wouter Olde Heuvel posted 6:32.76, young Norwegian Fredrik van der Horst, grandson of 1952 champion Hjalmar Andersen, skated a very strong 6:34.51, good for tenth overall. It would have brought him to the 10,000m, but he had to withdraw the second day due to knee injury. Enrico Fabris was the first of the favorites to race this distance and posted 6:22.44. In the pre-last pair, Kramer was paired with Frenchman Alexis Contin, a five-times inline world champion who improved a lot this year on ice training with Fabris. Kramer lived up to expectations and won the distance in 6:19.78; Contin finished with 6:25.70, reaching the bronze on the distance. Ivan Skobrev in the final pair finished behind Dutchman Jan Blokhuijsen, who was fourth overall.
In the 1500m, Skobrev managed to move up from fourth to third place overall, beating Blokhuijsen with 2.5 second. Skobrev set 1:47.82, good enough for the podium. Olde Heuvel, Niedzwiedzki and Eriksson had skated times in 1:48 and finished in that order behind the 1500m podium. The final pair showed Sven Kramer against Enrico Fabris. The opening 300m was for Kramer, Fabris then took the lead and won the race in 1:46.37. Kramer was also faster than Skobrev in 1:47.05. For Fabris it was just not enough to take the lead; Kramer had 110.261 points, Fabris 110.340. Then followed Skobrev with 111.527, Blokhuijsen with 112.231, and Contin with 112.293. Kramer would not normally give up that lead in the final distance, for Fabris the silver was pretty secure and Skobrev had the task not to let Blokhuijsen overtake him in the 10,000m.
In the final distance, Joel Eriksson skated a personal best of 14:13.68, but keeping only Anesi behind him on the distance. Henrik Christiansen skated 13:41.17, which was too fast today for Wouter Olde Heuvel to beat. Olde Heuvel finished in 13:45.60 and was 6^th over all. After the ice preparation halfway the 6 pairs, Contin was paired with Blokhuijsen. Both skaters stayed in 32 laps, but Contin could go to mid 31 laps in the second half. The Frenchman, who hadn’t raced a 10,000m in three years, improved his personal best with 12 seconds to 13:25.77, Blokhuijsen finished in 13:31.12 and was in points overtaken by Contin who had 152.581 points. Then Ivan Skobrev succeeded in staying ahead of the Dutchman with 13:33.02 and 152.178 points, securing the bronze. In the final pair, Sven Kramer raced with Enrico Fabris. Fabris managed to stay with Kramer only for five laps and then he had to race his own race to secure the second spot overall. Kramer was just too good. He finished in 13:19.32 and 150.227 points and wrote history by becoming the first man to ever win four European titles in a row. Fabris finished in 13:28.72, leaving the distance silver to Contin but taking the overall silver himself with 150.776 points.

ISU European Speed Skating Championships –Hamar (NOR) - Medal Winners

500m Ladies

1	Karolina Erbanová	CZE	39.54
2	Yekaterina Shikhova	RUS	39.56
3	Hege Bøkko	NOR	39.76 P

500m Men

1	Konrad Niedzwiedzki	POL	36.07
2	Matteo Anesi	ITA	36.52
3	Daniel Friberg	SWE	36.56

3000m Ladies

1	Martina Sáblíková	CZE	4:03.09
2	Ireen Wüst	NED	4:08.40
3	Stephanie Beckert	GER	4:08.76

5000m Men

1	Sven Kramer	NED	6:19.78
2	Enrico Fabris	ITA	6:22.44
3	Alexis Contin	FRA	6:25.70

1500m Ladies

1	Ireen Wüst	NED	1:59.08
2	Daniela Anschütz-Thoms	GER	1:59.57
3	Martina Sáblíková	CZE	1:59.75

1500m Men

1	Enrico Fabris	ITA	1:46.37
2	Sven Kramer	NED	1:47.05
3	Ivan Skobrev	RUS	1:47.82

5000m Ladies

1	Martina Sábliková	CZE	6:59.44
2	Stephanie Beckert	GER	7:04.55
3	Daniela Anschütz-Thoms	GER	7:12.02

10,000m Men

1	Sven Kramer	NED	13:19.32
2	Alexis Contin	FRA	13:25.77
3	Enrico Fabris	ITA	13:28.72

TOTAL Ladies

1	Martina Sábliková	CZE	162.825 40.45(7)-4:03.09(1)-1:59.75(3)-6:59.44(1)
2	Ireen Wüst	NED	162.307 39.77(4)-4:08.40(2)-1:59.08(1)-7:13.41(5)
3	Daniela Anschütz-Thoms	GER	162.307 40.74(10)-4:09.27(4)-1:59.57(2)-7:12.02(3)

TOTAL Men

1	Sven Kramer	NED	150.227 36.60(4)-6:19.78(1)-1:47.05(2)-13:19.32(1)
2	Enrico Fabris	ITA	150.776 36.64(5)-6:22.44(2)-1:46.37(1)-13:28.72(3)
3	Ivan Skobrev	RUS	152.178 36.76(9)-6:28.27(6)-1:47.82(3)-13:33.02(5)