ISU

Kali Christ (CAN) came a long way to win her first international title with gold in the 1500m at the ISU Four Continents Championships in Calgary. Battling injuries more than fighting for medals over the past five years, the 30-year-old from Saskatchewan (pictured) was the only woman to finish in under two minutes in 1:57.67, while Korean prodigy Park Chaewon pipped two US women to the line to win the Mass Start event on Thursday.

Austin Kleba (USA, pictured) made a great start to the ISU Four Continents Championships, winning two gold medals on Wednesday. After edging out Olympic silver medalist Cha Min Kyu (KOR) for the 500m title, he joined team-mates Brett Perry and Zach Stoppelmoor winning the Team Sprint event.

It was a day of firsts to start the second ISU Four Continents Championships in Calgary on Wednesday. Yekaterina Aidova (KAZ, pictured) won her first international title in the 500m, while Huang Yu-Ting (TPE) and Victoria Rodriguez (ARG) seized the first international silverware for their countries in the history of speed skating.

For some skaters it is a first shot at an international competition, a chance to prepare for their Olympic trials, and for others it is just a great opportunity to win an international prize. Whatever the reason all skaters enjoyed preparing for the races in a relaxed mode on Tuesday. Nine countries are entered  to compete in the Championships.

One week on from their staggering Team Pursuit World Cup win in Salt Lake City, USA confirmed their status with another gold medal, claiming the World Cup Trophy in the process. The Americans showed the depth of their team, keeping last week’s anchor Joey Mantia (USA) on the bench in Calgary. Earlier on Sunday Viktor Mushtakov (RUS) won the 500m while Ning Zhongyan (CHN) took his career first 1000m World Cup gold.

Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) wrapped up the best World Cup weekend of her career by sprinting to gold in the Women’s Mass Start in Calgary on Sunday while Brittany Bowe (USA) made amends in the 1500m by a 0.01s margin after finishing second by 0.03s in Saturday’s 1000m.

Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais secured the third consecutive World Cup trophy in the Women’s Team Pursuit for Canada on Saturday. Inspired by the home ice of the Calgary Olympic Oval the trio set a Canadian and a track record in 2:52.06, beating Japan and concluding the season undefeated. Nao Kodaira handed Japan a 1000m gold and a 500m silver, while Angelina Golikova (RUS) seized her first World Cup victory of the season in the 500m. 

It was do or die for Bart Hoolwerf (NED) in the Men’s Mass Start at the Calgary Olympic Oval on Saturday. With the second Dutch Olympic slot in the distance at risk, the 23-year-old gloriously took his career first World Cup win, securing the Beijing ticket for his country. Earlier on Saturday, Joey Mantia (USA) overcame his fatigue after Salt Lake City last week to win his second consecutive 1500m gold.

Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) came into the fourth World Cup as leader but he saved the best for the home ice in Calgary. With 33.80 seconds the world champion skated under 34 seconds for the first time in his career, winning the 500m by a 0.09 margin. Nils van der Poel (SWE) extended his unbeaten streak in the long distance World Cup to four but left the race with mixed feelings, finishing in six minutes and 4.29 seconds, 0.97 short of Sven Kramer’s 2007 track record.

Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) won her first World Cup gold in a classical distance after beating home skater Isabelle Weidemann (CAN) in an exciting head-to-head. Martina Sáblíková (CZE) took bronze after a close battle with Ragne Wiklund (NOR). Earlier on Friday, Russia’s Olga Fatkulina (RUS) kicked off the fourth World Cup weekend of the season in Calgary with a personal best and her first individual World Cup gold since November 2019.

The stakes are high when the international Speed Skating elite enters the Calgary Olympic Oval for the fourth leg of the 2021/22 ISU World Cup Speed Skating series. The definite Olympic Qualification Classification for allocation of quota places for the  Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games is made up after this weekend.

The Netherlands and Russia dominated at the first two Junior World Cup events of the season in Inzell (GER) on 27-28 November and 4-5 December. Evelien Vijn (NED) collected five gold medals over the course of the two weekends to anchor the Dutch to lead the medal ranking in the Junior category, while Irina Kuznetsova (RUS) won the same amount to lift Russia to the top of the neo-seniors table.

Joey Mantia (USA) saved the best for last at his home World Cup in Salt Lake City. After having won the 1500m on Saturday, the 34-year-old from Ocala, Florida, anchored teammates Emery Lehman and Casey Dawson to gold and a world record in the Team Pursuit to conclude A Division action on the final day of competition. Earlier on Sunday, Thomas Krol (NED) led the third Dutch podium sweep in the 1000m this season, and Wataru Morishige (JPN) seized his career first World Cup gold in the 500m.

Miho Takagi (JPN) beat the rest of the field nearly a second and a half in the Women's 1500m on Sunday, the final day of the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Salt Lake City. With a time of 1 minute and 49.99 seconds, the indomitable Takagi came just 0.16s shy of her own world record, in only the second sub 1.50 race in history. In the Women's Mass Start, Sofie Karoline Haugen (NOR) took her first World Cup medal, with a well deserved bronze after an exhausting attack. The pack caught up with her in extremis, but only Ivanie Blondin (CAN) and Marijke Groenewoud (NED) managed to pass the Norwegian, seizing gold and silver respectively.

Joey Mantia (USA) lived up to his own and the enthusiastic home crowd’s expectations, winning the Men’s 1500m on the second day of the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Salt Lake City. Having emptied the tank in the King’s Race, Mantia did not factor in the Mass Start final on Saturday. Bart Swings (BEL) grabbed his career fifth Mass Start win in the World Cup, cashing in on a clever and powerful attack with six laps to go.