The final competition in the Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating 2011/12 is held at the Sportforum ice rink in Berlin Germany this weekend.  Starting on Friday 9 March with the Ladies and Men 500m (1), Ladies 3000m and Men 1500m, the competition will continue on Saturday with the Ladies and Men 500m (2), Men 5000m and Ladies 3000m.  The World Cup Final will conclude on Sunday 11 March with the Ladies and Men 1000m, Team Pursuit and Mass Start Race.

 

World Cup trophies will be presented to the best skater of the season in each distance including the Mass Start Race and to the best Team in Team Pursuit. Although Czech skater Martina Sábliková has guaranteed her trophy in the long distances by winning 5 preceding competitions, the Final races in Berlin will be decisive to determine the winner of the World Cup trophies.

 

For the first time in the history of the World Cup Speed Skating series a special prize from Essent and US $20,000 will be awarded to the Lady and Man who has accumulated the highest number of points throughout the season and be crowned “Grand World Cup” winner.

 

For each competition in the individual distances, the top 5 ranked competitors earned “Grand World Cup points” as follows:

 

Rank

Competitions before the World Cup final

World Cup final

1

10 (5,0)

15 (7,5)

2

8 (4,0)

12 (6,0)

3

7 (3,5)

10,5 (5,25)

4

6 (3,0)

9 (4,5)

5

5 (2,5)

7,5 (3,75)

The points in brackets are awarded for each 500m and 1000m race in Competitions where these distances will be skated twice.

 

Before the Final the Dutch skaters Ireen Wüst and Stefan Groothuis are in the lead of the “Grand World Cup” rankings, with Christine Nesbitt from Canada and American skater Shani Davis as runners-up.

 

Current Grand World Cup rankings:

 

Ladies

 

Rank

Name

Country

Grand World Cup Points

1

Ireen WÜST

 

NED

85.0

 

2

Christine NESBITT

 

CAN

76.5

 

3

Martina SÁBLIKOVÁ

 

CZE

61.0

 

4

Claudia PECHSTEIN

 

GER

54.0

 

5

Marrit LEENSTRA

 

NED

51.0

 

 

 

Men

 

Rank

Name

Country

Grand World Cup Points

1

Stefan GROOTHUIS

NED

72.5

2

Shani DAVIS

USA

65.0

3

Kjeld NUIS

NED

60.0

4

Håvard BØKKO

NOR

53.0

5

Denny MORRISON

CAN

43.0

 

The Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating Final is available as a live stream in most countries on the ISU Skating Channel: http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/site/index.html