ISU

How are things going to turn out in the second and final leg of this year’s ISU World Cup Speed Skating series in the Heerenveen Hub? The program is a carbon-copy of last week’s. Will home-skaters Patrick Roest and Irene Schouten again be able to skate a track record? Will Thomas Krol and Brittany Bowe continue to dominate the middle distances? And will Pavel Kulizhnikov and Kai Verbij be able to bounce back from their 500m crashes last week?

A high-level skater is a busy person between training on and off the ice, camps, competitions and other activities. A medical doctor, working in the emergency room of a hospital is a busy person, dealing with patients in sometimes extreme situations. How busy is someone, who is both?

Don’t miss any of the action from the season’s thrilling races from the Heerenveen Speed Skating Hub, which will be streamed live to all fans on the ISU Skating YouTube page. Make sure you subscribe to the channel to receive live stream notifications. Some geo-restrictions will apply on YouTube, but if you find yourself unable to watch the stream, check out one of the channels below to get access.

Check out some amazing pictures taken at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating event this weekend in Heerenveen, The Netherlands.

Some great pictures immortalized the ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships that got the Short Track season underway in Gdańsk, Poland this weekend.

Suzanne Schulting continued her medal haul on Sunday, raising two fists in the air and screaming with joy after winning the 1000m – the event in which she holds the Olympic title. The 23-year-old took a lead in the third lap and kept it for the remaining six, winning the gold medal three tenths of a second ahead of teammate Selma Poutsma. Germany’s Anna Seidel finished third.

The ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2021 concluded in Gdansk, Poland with Russia’s Semen Elistratov securing his third European overall title after an explosive finish in the 1000m final.

Russia’s Artem Arefyev won his first individual World Cup gold as seasoned campaigners Thomas Krol and Patrick Roest collected yet more titles for the Netherlands from the first leg of the 2020/2021 World Cup series in Heerenveen on Sunday. The 20-year-old Russian sprinter came out on top when the dust had cleared after an intense battle in the 500m, Krol took his second gold medal of the weekend by edging his team-mate and good friend Kai Verbij in the 1000m and Roest smashed his own track record by more than three seconds to win the 5000m. 

Brittany Bowe (USA), Femke Kok (NED) and Irene Schouten (NED) on Sunday each collected their second gold medal from the first leg of the 2020/2021 World Cup series in Heerenveen. The USA skater added the 1000m victory to her 1500m gold on Saturday, while Kok became the first Dutch lady to win the 500m twice in one World Cup weekend.  Her compatriot Irene Schouten was proud to put her name on the board of Thialf track records when she won the 3000m to add to her Mass Start triumph. 

The men’s 1500m final became a Russian affair. Semen Elistratov took his third Championship title in the event, having won gold at both the Moscow 2015 World Championships and the 2017 European Championships in Torino. His teammate Denis Ayrapetyan took silver, ahead of the Netherlands’ Sjinkie Knegt, who picked up the bronze after a push from fifth position in the closing four laps.

A lot has changed in the world over the past year but on the first day of finals at the ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Gdańsk, Suzanne Schulting showed her dominance in the sport remains intact.

Dutch skaters filled the top five places in the men’s 1500m in Heerenveen on Saturday, with a superb Thomas Krol leading the pack in the second fastest time ever skated in Thialf: one minute and 43.24 seconds. The Netherlands’ domination continued in the other men’s events on the second day of the first ISU World Cup event in the 2020/2021 season, with Dai Dai Ntab and Arjan Stroetinga taking gold in the 500m and Mass Start respectively.

“I’m super excited and grateful to be here and skate against the best in the world,” said USA’s Brittany Bowe after winning the ladies’ 1500m in Heerenveen on Saturday, voicing the feeling of many skaters, especially those from outside Europe, at the first ISU World Cup event of the season. Femke Kok (NED), who took bronze at last week’s European Sprint Championships, collected gold in her favorite 500m and Irene Schouten (NED) won the Mass Start by outsprinting Ivanie Blondin (CAN) in the final lap.

Canada’s ladies started their international speed skating season with a big surprise at the first leg of the ISU World Cup in Heerenveen on Friday. Ivanie Blondin, Valérie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann won their Team Pursuit, skating the second fastest time ever at Thialf Stadium in 2 minutes and 56.71 seconds. The Netherlands had to settle for silver on home ice in 2:57.04, while Norway followed more than two seconds later in third. 

The Netherlands kicked off the World Cup 2020/2021 series with a gold medal in the men's Team Pursuit in Heerenveen on Friday. Veteran captain Sven Kramer led youngsters Chris Huizinga and Beau Snellink past Olympic champions Norway by more than a second, with Canada only 0.08 seconds behind in third. In the semi-finals of the Mass Start, Austrian prodigy Gabriel Odor qualified for the Saturday final.