After skating the 5000m on Friday, Miho Takagi (JPN) was back in her comfort zone on Saturday. The Japanese world record holder took her third gold in four races this season at the fourth leg of the ISU World Cup series in Calgary. In the second women’s event on Saturday, Team USA brought home Team Sprint gold to grab the lead in the World Cup ranking.
Takagi back in 1500m comfort zone
The women’s 1500m podium at the fourth World Cup event featured the same names as last week at the third, but the order was different. Takagi won both races, but Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (NED) and Nadezhda Morozova (KAZ) traded places, with Rijpma-de Jong second and Morozova third this week.
Both Takagi and Rijpma-de Jong were a little faster than last week, whereas Morozova couldn’t match last week’s pace.
Takagi skated in the last pairing versus Morozova. Having skated the 5000m on Friday, she still felt a little fatigued.
“I wasn't able to make speed today. I think because of the 5000m,” she said.
Miho Takagi (JPN) put a busy Friday behind her to take 1500m gold for the third time in this World Cup season. ©ISU
Takagi went out faster than her opponent in the opener, but Morozova took the lead in the second full lap, which ultimately played out to Takagi’s advantage.
“She [Morozova] skated in front of me, so I got a chance to chase her from 700m to 1100m, so that helped me a lot. And then I was able to keep my pace in the final lap.”
With a time of 1 minute and 52.08s, Takagi was 0.46s faster than last week, despite her 5000m effort on Friday in which she missed out on her national record.
“I wanted to set the new [Japanese 5000m] national record [Eriko Ishino skated 6:55.07 in 2011], but it’s so fast. And after the race, I saw my time and it was 7:00.08, I was so disappointed [not to skate under seven minutes]. Also my last lap my speed goes down a lot. That’s my weak point.”
Takagi also missed out on climbing to the top of the Adelskalender, the all-time ranking in which skaters are classified by their personal bests in the four Allround distances (for women: 500m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m), for which she had to skate 6:55.87.
The Japanese 5000m record and the Adelskalender are still on Takagi’s bucket list, but not this season, as she will not skate the 5000m at the World Single Distance Championships, and the distance does not feature again on the World Cup circuit.
Rijpma-de Jong happy with silver
Behind Takagi, Morozova stopped the clock at 1:53.03. That was enough for third place behind Rijpma-de Jong who had already skated 1:52.70, 0.23s faster than last week.
The 1500m podium featured the same faces as last week but with Rijpma-de Jong (NED) and Morozova (KAZ) trading places. ©ISU
“I improve every time out,” Rijpma-de Jong said. “I didn’t pick up speed easy today, and I skated a bit strained. My second and third full laps were good, but speed in the 1500m normally comes from the first lap, so that’s something I can still work on.
“But I’m really happy with the result. I’m steady on the World Cup podium this season and that gives me a lot of confidence.”
USA takes Team Sprint lead
The United States won the women’s team sprint in 1 minute and 25.68s, with Canada just 0.05 seconds behind. The Netherlands (Michelle de Jong, Femke Kok, Isabel Grevelt) took bronze in 1:25.95.
After having come third at the first Team Sprint race this World Cup season in Heerenveen, Erin Jackson, McKenzie Browne and Kimi Goetz (USA) took the lead in the World Cup ranking with gold in Calgary. Yet the Americans admitted they had not trained a lot for this particular event.
The USA's McKenzie Browne, Erin Jackson and Kimi Goetz took the lead in the Team Sprint ranking with victory in Calgary. ©ISU
“Not at all, I would say,” Jackson said. Goetz added: “It's not an event that we can earn funding off, like an Olympic event, but it's fun. We’re three really good friends and it's a race with a lot less pressure than our other events. So it's a nice way to break up the weekend.
“We’d love to see it in the Olympics. All the teams who skate it, enjoy it.”
Jackson added: “It's exciting too, also for the spectators.”
For Browne, the Team Sprint is even more special.
“It’s originally a cycling event, and I did track cycling for a while, and team sprint was my favorite event there.
“It’s exactly the same, without the bank [the banked corners of a cycling track], so I know what I'm doing. I'm familiar with it. That’s a comfort because I’m not as experienced as these two [in speed skating], so it’s nice to get out there for me.”
Silver medal winners Carolina Hiller, Brooklyn McDougall and Ivanie Blondin (CAN) also enjoyed the Team Sprint.
Blondin said: “It's such a fun event. For me, especially at the start, I am not a fast sprinter like these two girls, so I really have to chase to try to stay on them, and once I'm, on I'm on and it feels really good.
With the three teams on the same World Cup points, the USA lead Canada and Netherlands by virtue of their faster time. ©ISU
“The last lap it's just everything out on the line for me, and just go as hard as I can. I wasn't sure what my legs would give after the 1500m two hours ago, but it didn't feel that bad.”
“It would be great [to have the Team Sprint on the Olympic program]. I don’t know what the plans are. It'll be at the World Championship this season, and it’s not the first time. For now it’s just a fun one.”
With this win and their third place in Heerenveen (NED), the USA have the same number of World Cup ranking points as both the Netherlands (one win and one third) and Canada (two second places), but lead the standings by virtue of having the fastest time across both races.
With only one Team Sprint round left, the winner will be decided at the final World Cup event in Tomaszów Mazowiecki (POL) in February.
Program
The women’s program at the Calgary World Cup concludes with the 1000m and the Mass Start on Sunday. The ISU World Cup series resumes with the fifth leg on 10-12 February 2023 in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland.
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 Short Track 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
.png)
