Jutta Leerdam on her way to a third straight 1000m gold in Calgary ©Getty Images
Jutta Leerdam (NED) continued her perfect streak in the 1000m, seizing her third consecutive gold medal at the third leg of the ISU World Cup series on Sunday, while Irene Schouten (NED) made amends for a poor outing in the 3000m on Friday, winning the Mass Start with a powerful sprint to conclude the women’s competition at the first of two consecutive World Cup weekends in Calgary, Canada.
Leerdam wears hat for father
Leerdam blew away the rest of the field, finishing her 1000m race in 1 minute and 12.82s. None of the other women were able to skate under 1:13. The difference was made in an unmatched first full lap of 26.2 seconds, which was over half a second faster than the rest of the field.
“The race wasn’t perfect, especially my opener – I had a miss-stroke at the start – but eventually I skated a 26.2 lap,” Leerdam said. “When I saw that, I thought wow, and the speed came really easy.
“I learn every race. It doesn’t need to be perfect, especially not if you win by a 0.7s margin, but I want to get the best out of it every time of course.”
Leerdam wore the cowboy hat, that all medal winners get in Calgary with a big smile.
“The hat is for my father, she said. “He told me he really wanted to have one.”
(L-R) Kimi Goetz, Jutta Leerdam and Vanessa Herzog don their hats on the podium ©Getty Images
At 0.71s from Leerdam, Kimi Goetz (USA), Vanessa Herzog (AUT) and Miho Takagi (JPN) all finished within an 0.04s margin. The American took her first World Cup silver medal in 1:13.53, Herzog grabbed bronze in 1:13.56, while Olympic champion Takagi had to settle for fourth place after her 1500m gold on Saturday.
Goetz comfortable at altitude
Goetz was more happy with the way she had skated, than with her career-first World Cup silver.
“I would say my biggest focus these first four World Cups have been the openers. That's where I've really struggled especially in the 1000m. I'm usually in the 18s, and the tough girls are mid-17s. So today, I have 17.8, which is my fastest opener ever. I'm only done 17.9 once or twice. That was my main goal. Regardless of the podium.”
The American was pleased that the World Cup circuit had moved from low-land rinks in Stavanger (Norway) and Heerenveen (the Netherlands), to Calgary.
“I like skating at altitude, [it’s something I’m] more comfortable with it since I train in Salt Lake City. So I was hopeful this weekend, but everyone seems to show up on race day, so I'm just glad that I was able to get on the podium.”
For Herzog the bronze medal capped a great weekend. The Austrian already had won silver in Friday’s 500m, and skated a personal best in the 1500m, a distance she only uses as stamina straining for the 1000m.
“I feel like it's going in the right direction. In the 500m, my start was a bit slow, but the lap was really good, and I'm really happy about the personal best [in the 1500m], and today. I haven't been on the 1000m podium in since 2019, so I'm really happy with the progress.”
Schouten bounces back
After a seventh place in the 3000m on Friday and a fourth place in the Team Pursuit together with Reina Anema and Marijke Groenewoud, Schouten bounced back with gold in the Mass Start.
Irene Schouten celebrates after winning gold in the Mass Start ©ISU
The Olympic champion had already won the Mass Start in Heerenveen with a solo breakaway, and in Calgary, she and team-mate Groenewoud went for a similar tactics.
“We tried to attack one after the other,” said Schouten. “We actually hoped that someone would be able to escape, but Ivanie Blondin (CAN) was very alert, and then you know it’s going to end up in a bunch sprint.
“Marijke [Groenewoud] picked up pace at 500m from the finish and I could pass her at 300m. We went into the final corner with two Dutchwoman in the lead, so that was perfect.”
On the final straight, Groenewoud was eventually overtaken by Mia Kilburg-Manganello (USA) and Blondin, but Schouten managed to keep everyone at bay.
Blondin eventually got disqualified for an irregular move when she tried to prevent Schouten and Groenewoud from breaking away from the bunch. Groenewoud therefore took bronze behind Kilburg-Manganello, who posted her career-best Mass Start result.
“It tells me that I have potential that I thought I didn’t,” Kilburg-Manganello said. “Luckily, we have the Dutch, who are strong and know how to race and make a good fight within the field. Unfortunately we don’t have enough countries that have enough racers to go along with them as well, and they tried this in Heerenveen and it worked, so people were a bit more on edge.
“There was a lot of chasing and bridging, I had to dig a couple of times, to catch on to the break I couldn’t let any of them get away, and then luckily we came down to four [laps] to go and everybody shut it down and waited for the sprint.”
For all information about the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series, please visit the webpage here.
World Cup Standings - Men
World Cup Standings - Women
Where to watch
Viewers will be able to watch the World Cup sessions (local time) via their national broadcaster/channel.
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 on the Where to watch webpage here.
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series events 2022/23:
Nov 11 - 13, 2022 Stavanger /NOR
Nov 18 - 20, 2022 Heerenveen/ NED
Dec 09 - 11, 2022 Calgary /CAN
Dec 16 - 18, 2022 Calgary /CAN
Feb 10 - 12, 2023 Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
Feb 17 - 19, 2023 World Cup Final - Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
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