She is one of the most decorated Olympic athletes from the Czech Republic. Martina Sáblíková has been competing in Speed Skating for more than twenty years.
Following the ISU European Figure Skating Championships the focus now shifts this week to the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships with most of the non-European top skaters competing in Anaheim, USA (February 5-10). Anaheim will host an ISU Figure Skating Championship for the first time.
Denis Yuskov (RUS) took his third 1500m gold medal of the season but the crowd inside Hamar's Vikingskipet – with Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg among them – cheered louder for Håvard Bøkko (NOR) collecting the silver medal. The Norwegian took his first individual World Cup medal since the 2012/2013 season. In the 500m Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS) showed a little ShortTrack trick to stay on his feet in the inner corner and win his second gold medal of the weekend.
After Saturday's 1000m win, Brittany Bowe (USA) took another gold medal in the 1500m on Sunday. Dutch youngster Joy Beune won her career first individual World Cup medal clinching the bronze. Vanessa Herzog (AUT) took advantage of the absence of Saturday's winner Nao Kodaira (JPN) in the 500m. Despite a slower race on Sunday, the European Sprint champion collected the gold medal.
Korea’s all-conquering men’s team picked up two more gold medals at the Energieverbund Arena on Sunday to seal a whitewash of the individual men’s events at the ISU Short Track speed skating World Cup in Dresden, Germany.
Dutch superstar Suzanne Schulting lit up the final day of racing at the ISU Short Track speed skating World Cup in Dresden to cement her status as the world’s very best.
Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS) took charge in the 500m World Cup ranking winning gold with what he described as a "so-so race". Kai Verbij (NED) led a Dutch podium sweep in the 1000m, but the European Champion did not skate the race of his life either. Both men considered the Hamar World Cup as a preparatory race for next week's showdown at the World Single Distance Championships in Inzell, Germany.
Speed Skating fans at Hamar's Vikingskipet watched two track records set on the second day of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating. Nao Kodaira (JPN) won the 500m in 37.25 seconds to skate Jenny Wolf's (GER) 2008 time of 37.52 seconds into the history books, while Brittany Bowe (USA) took 1000m gold in 1 minute, 14.79 seconds, to beat another German 2008 track record: Anni Friesinger's 1:14.81.
Russia’s Sofia Prosvirnova stole the show with her first ever individual World Cup victory on a day of high-octane Short Track speed skating action in Dresden’s Energieverbund Arena on Saturday.
Nothing could stop the all-powerful Korean squad from utterly dominating the first day of men’s finals at the ISU World Cup in Dresden, Germany on Saturday.
Martina Sáblíková (CZE) collected her 48th career World Cup win to end a two-year- World Cup draught with a gold medal in the 3000m at Hamar's Vikingskipet on Friday. Natalya Voronina (RUS) took home the silver medal and Marina Zueva (BLR) collected her career second World Cup medal with bronze.
Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR) took charge in the long-distance World Cup with a solid 5000m win in front of a very enthusiastic home crowd on Friday. The Norwegian was the only one to keep all his lap times under 30 seconds to finish in 6:16.16. Aleksandr Rumyantsev (RUS) took silver and Olympic 10,0000m champion Ted-Jan Bloemen (CAN) took bronze to qualify for the World Cup final in Salt Lake City by the skin of his teeth.
Take a look at the highlights of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships, that took place in Minsk, Belarus, from 21 - 27 January, and which was filled with suspense up until the very end.
Rika Kihira, 16, made a splash this season. The Japanese teenager is skating to “Beautiful Storm” in her Free Skating, and she took the senior level by storm, too, taking gold at her two ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.
The ISU World Cup Short Track Series continues this weekend in Dresden, Germany. Don’t miss any of the action from the fourth leg of this thrilling event.