#SpeedSkating
Nils van der Poel (SWE) received the Oscar Mathisen Award for the most impressive Speed Skating Performance of last season, just after he had showcased one of the most impressive performances of the current season in Stavanger today. The Swedish World Record holder was in a league of his own in the only 10,000m race of this World Cup Season, leaving the rest of the field more than 17 seconds behind. Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) won the Men’s 500 metres and China took Team Sprint gold.
Nils van der Poel (SWE) © International Skating Union (ISU)
Van Der Poel leaves field behind
Van der Poel started in the final pairing of the 10,000m against Jorrit Bergsma (NED), and slowly but definitely skated away from the 2014 Olympic Champion, about half a second per lap in the first twenty laps. In the final five laps the Swede even accelerated, while Bergsma struggled to maintain his pace.
With 12 minutes and 38.92 seconds Van der Poel crushed Sven Kramer‘s (NED) 2017 track record by 12 seconds. Bergsma came 17.13 seconds short in second place, while Ted-Jan Bloemen (CAN) took third place, trailing by 21.30 seconds.
“I’m really impressed by Nils (van der Poel), and I told him so,” Bloemen said. “This was one of the best races I’ve ever seen, outstanding.”
Van Der Poel accepted the compliment with a modest smile: “It makes me happy, that he said that.”
The World Record holder did not agree completely, however.
“I rate my 10,000 metres from Heerenveen higher than this, based on performance. It was more even, closer to my maximum performance of the day.
“I believe my ground shape is better this year. That's why I'm going so fast. The race today was a good race. I think it could have gone a little faster earlier, I got a little defensive.”
Although he was impressed, Bloemen thought that the gap would have been smaller at a faster ice-rink.
“I think he’s right,” van der Poel said. “My strength as the speed skater is a good corners, and I'm physically fit.”
“The straightaways, when the ice is good… Bergsma for example, he does really good straightaways. I think he benefits from the better glide. The Canadians benefit from the better glide (too). They always train under better conditions."
Beijing Olympics
Looking forward to Beijing, Van Der Poel shied away from the favourites’ role.
“I think the gap will be smaller when we reach the Olympics. I have the ability to have a good ground shape, but if you look at Jorrit (Bergsma) for example, four years ago, he did 13:01 here. At the Olympics (in 2018), he was about 20 seconds faster. If Jorrit goes 20 seconds faster than this, he beats me.”
Both Bloemen and Bergsma were not ready to automatically hand over the Olympic gold to Van der Poel either.
“I’m a very good skater, I’m the Olympic Champion, a world record holder, I’ve got a chance,” Bloemen said.
“I have to do my own thing,” Bergsma said. “This is not top shape yet, but it was a solid skate and I could keep the lap times even up until the end.
“My goal for the Games is just to show the best me and we’ll see what that’s worth when time comes.”
Dubreuil bags career second 500m World Cup win
Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) grabbed the lead in the Men’s 500m World Cup. The Canadian World Champion bagged his second career individual World Cup win, finishing in 34.57, just 0.03 ahead of Artem Arefyev (RUS).
Poland’s Marek Kania seized his first World Cup silverware, coming third in a personal best of 34.65 seconds.
Dubreuil made amends after finishing 12th in Friday’s 1000 metres.
“I was really good today. I'm happy about how I rebounded from yesterday. Yesterday was a tough day, a tough race. I felt nothing really, I felt tired yesterday, like I just wanted to go home. I didn't feel any energy.
“Today I thought to myself, there's still two races to go (at the Stavanger World Cup), and then I can go home, so I better just do my best, and I show up. I didn't expect to win.
“I told myself don't worry about results, don’t think limits, just let yourself skate, have fun and we'll see.
“It (the race) wasn't perfect, but I think the execution was better than last week. It was a really fun race because Artem (Arefyev) was really good as well. We were very close in the last straight, and I managed to keep my technique better than the last few races.
“It helped me a lot in the backstretch seeing him, knowing I need to go get him.
“Obviously this year, it's a secondary goal, the prime goal is the Olympics. But to me, the best skater in the world is not necessarily the guy who wins the one race at the Olympics or the World Championships. To me, the best skater in the world is supposed to be consistent throughout the whole season.”
Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) © International Skating Union (ISU)
China wins Team Sprint
China concluded the day with gold in the only Team Sprint race this World Cup season. Hoatian Wang, Ning Zhongyan and Lian Ziwen finished in 1:20.12, keeping Norway (Håvard Lorentzen, Bjørn Magnussen and Henrik Fagerli Rukke) 0.90 seconds behind. Poland (Marek Kania, Piotr Michalski and Damian Zurek) came third in 1:21.25.
500m Men
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Standings 500m Men
5000m/10,000m Men
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Standings 5000m Men
Team Sprint Men
ISU World Cup Standings Team Sprint Women Standings Team Sprint Men
The event entry quotas for the individual distances will be determined by the Special Olympic Qualification Classification (SOQC) based on results from the different ISU World Cup Speed Skating Competitions and the full details are available in ISU Communication 2405.
For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series please visit: isu.org/speed-skating. Results are here and you can follow the discussion on social media by using #SpeedSkating.
The event entry quotas for the individual distances will be determined by the Special Olympic Qualification Classification (SOQC) based on results from the different ISU World Cup Speed Skating Competitions and the full details are available in ISU Communication 2405.
For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series please visit: isu.org/speed-skating. Results are here and you can follow the discussion on social media by using #SpeedSkating.
Where to Watch
Viewers will be able to watch either via their national broadcaster / channel and for countries where there are no broadcasters, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. You will find the full list in the Where to Watch news here.
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Highlights, clips, interviews, behind the scenes:
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For further information on ISU Speed Skating visit https://www.isu.org/speed-skating
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series 2021/22:
Tomaszów Mazowiecki (POL) – Nov 12 – 14, 2021
Stavanger (NOR) - Nov 19 - Nov 21, 2021
Salt Lake City (USA) - Dec 03 - Dec 05, 2021
Calgary (CAN) – Dec 10 - Dec 12, 2021
Final – Heerenveen (NED) – Mar 12 - Mar 13, 2022
About ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series
The ISU World Cup Speed Skating is a Series of international Speed Skating competitions which takes place annually. The Series started in 1984 and usually consists of six or seven Events including the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Final. However during the Olympic season the Series consists of five Events.
Skaters can earn points at each competition, and the Skater who has the most points on a given distance at the end of the Series is the World Cup winner of that distance. The World Cup Competitions held from November to December serve as qualifying events for entry quotas at the ISU European, World Single Distances, World Sprint and World Allround Speed Skating Championships and during the Olympic season they are Olympic Qualifying Events. A number of World Cup titles are awarded every season; For Men: 500m, 1000m, 1500m, combined 5000m / 10,000m, Mass Start, Team Pursuit and Team Sprint. For Women 500m, 1000m, 1500m, the combined 3000m / 5000m, Mass Start, Team Pursuit and Team Sprint. For further information please visit isu.org/WorldCupSpeedSkating.
