The ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating Series 2014/15 consisted of five events, the first three were only regional and took place in Calgary (CAN) in November 2014, Minsk (BLR) in December and Changchun (CHN) in January. Then the Series moved to Collalbo (ITA) and came to an end in Warsaw (POL) last weekend with the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating Final.
Junior Russian Darya Kachanova and Dutch Ladies Tessa Boogaard, Melissa Wijfje and Sanneke de Neeling top the World Cup board
Darya Kachanova (RUS) won the 500m Cup in spite of losing her last race to the younger but impressive Min-Sun Kim (KOR) who was second overall while Xue Lin (CHN) finished third overall. Vanessa Bittner (AUT) lost her third place in the ranking because she participated in the ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships, where she finished within the top-10 in both sprint distances and fifth in the Mass Start and skated a Junior Track Record in the 1000m.
The winner of the 1000m Cup is Tessa Boogaard (NED) while Alexandra Kapruziak (POL) is ranked second. Although Sanneke de Neeling (NED) won in Warsaw, she was much lower in the ranking going into the Final and managed to grab the bronze.
Melissa Wijfje (NED) was undoubtedly the fastest in the 1500m, winning in Warsaw with a track record of 2:04.09 and widened her lead over Yelizaveta Kazelina (RUS), who in turn finished with a 3 second lead over Ji-Woo Park (KOR) who ended with bronze.
Wijfje was equally dominant in the 3000m and took her second gold medal. Leia Behlau (GER) ranks second while Ji-Woo Park finished second in her last race which guaranteed her second bronze medal.
Sanneke de Neeling won the Mass Start Cup by finishing second in her final race. Leia Behlau ranks second while her teammate Michelle Uhrig took third.
Patrick Roest (NED) wins three Junior World Cups
A number of up and coming Russian sprinters have impressed this season, however only one made it in the top three final World Cup classification. Mikhail Kazelin won the World Cup while Stanislav Palkin (KAZ) got the silver and managed to stay just one point ahead of Seung-Yong Yang (KOR), whose win in Warsaw brought him overall bronze.
Wesly Dijs (NED) won the 1000m Cup ahead of Palkin while Kazelin got his second medal by finishing third overall. Hayato Nakamura (JPN) won the last race and proved he is a strong contender for the World Championships title. Patrick Roest (NED) dropped from a potential podium position having focused on the longer distances.
Roest won all 1500m races and of course took the Cup home with him. Magnus Myhren Krinstensen (NOR) and Marcel Bosker (NED) follow in the ranking.
Roest dominated in the 3000m without losing a race. He brought the track record in Warsaw to 3:55.26. Sergey Trofimov (RUS) was second and Bosker was third again.
Not much was different in the Mass Start, as Roest won his third Cup and Bosker got his third bronze. The Koreans proved their strength in this distance and it is Hyun-Min Oh who took the silver.
Junior Dutch Ladies and Russian Men take the Team Sprint
16 countries in the Ladies’ field and 17 in the men’s field participated in this season’s Team Sprint. The Dutch ladies proved to be stronger than Korea who finished second and Germany who were third. In the Men’s field the Eastern Europeans proved again that they were a force to be reckoned with. Russia won and Belarus finished second, while Korea was third.
ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships 2015
The ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships will also take place in Warsaw on February 20-22. 80 Men and 65 Junior Ladies are entered into the competition. The ISU Junior World Cup winners and all other medalists are aiming for a World Junior title in a Single Distance or will compete for the Allround title.
The Schedule for the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships 2015 is as follows:
Friday February 20, 2015: Ladies & Men 500 m, Ladies & Men 1500 m
Saturday, February 21, 2015: Ladies & Men 1000 m, Ladies 3000 m (quartets), Men 5000 m (quartets), Ladies & Men Team Sprint
Sunday, February 22, 2015: Ladies & Men Team Pursuit, Ladies & Men Mass start
The World Junior Championships will be available as a live stream here: https://new.livestream.com/K-Vision/WJSSCH2015