Japanese sprinters Wataru Morishige and Tatsuya Shinhama share the World Cup lead after the first two 500m races in Obihiro. After Shinhama had won gold and Morishige silver on Friday, the two swapped places on the podium on Sunday. Jordan Stolz (USA) edged out Yuma Murakami for bronze to prevent a second podium sweep for the home nation in the sprint.
To conclude the men’s competition at the Meiji Hokkaido Tokachi Oval, Patrick Roest (NED) won the 5000m in a track record time of 6 minutes and 10.99s, beating Davide Ghiotto (ITA) in an entertaining head-to-head battle.
Japan dominates 500m
The men’s 500m was also decided in an entertaining head-to-head battle. Shinhama and Morishige lined up against each other in the 10th and last pairing. Friday’s winner Shinhama was slightly hampered by a hip injury sustained in winning the B Division 1000m on Friday, and Morishige took full advantage despite starting from the inner lane.
“I prefer to start in the outer lane,” Morishige explained, “because I want to chase down my opponent [on the backstretch]. Today I felt a little nervous, because I knew Shinhama had the chance to chase me. Knowing that he had to be cautious at the start because of his injury, I tried to build as big as a gap as I could get.”
Wataru Morishige (JPN) overcame an inner-lane disadvantage to swap podium places with Friday's 500m winner Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN) © ISU
Shinhama still had a better opener, with 9.5s versus 9.6s for Morishige, but coming off the first inner corner, Morishige built his desired gap and Shinhama was not able to catch up in the second inner.
Morishige stopped the clock at 34.64s, five hundredths of a second ahead of his compatriot, who had hesitated to start because of his sore hip.
“I wanted to have an all-Japanese podium again today, so I decided to give it a go,” Shinhame said. “I’m looking forward to the next week’s World Cup in Beijing. I didn’t do well at the 2022 Olympics out there, so I’ve got mixed feelings about the track.”
Stolz prevented that home 1-2-3 by pipping Yudai Yamamoto (JPN) for bronze after both skaters finished in the same time (34.94s, a personal best for the Japanese skater). He was the only non-Japanese skater in the top five, with Yuma Murakami (JPN) finishing fifth in 34.96s.
Jordan Stolz (USA,right) prevented a second 500m podium sweep for the Japanese hosts by the slimmest of margins © ISU
The 19-year-old American was impressed by the Japanese dominance in the 500m
“They’re all good skaters, probably the most disciplined [of the field] in their technique,” he said.
Proper racing drives Roest to new track record
Patrick Roest faced Davide Ghiotto (ITA) in the penultimate pairing of the 5000m, but the top two in last year’s World Championships threw all pre-race plans out of the window once they got off the starting line.
Ghiotto said: “I spoke to Maurizio [Italy coach Maurizio Marchetto] before the race and we thought maybe it would be better to stay with Patrick during the race, but once in the race I thought, OK, I’m going to set the pace.”
Roest had set out to start cautiously, but his instinct got the better of him when he saw Ghiotto skating away.
Patrick Roest (NED) reeled in rival Davide Ghiotto (ITA) to take 5000m gold in a track record time after the Italian had set a hot pace © ISU
“I had seen the pairs before us and I knew the ice was tough. I wanted to start slow. If you start faster, you might be able to skate 6:09 here, but if the legs are not good, you may as well end up with 6:15.
“I actually thought 6:15 would be the winning time today, but our pace was way faster because Ghiotto went out fast.
“I skated faster than I’d planned to and from then on it was just proper racing, which in the end is what I like most.”
Halfway through the race, Roest was more than two seconds behind Ghiotto, but he started catching up slowly. He ended up reeling in his opponent with two laps to go and crossed the finish line in 6 minutes and 10.99s, beating his own 2018 track record by a margin of 2.02s. Ghiotto also finished inside the previous track record, crossing the line in 6:12.90.
Sander Eitrem (NOR) seized the bronze medal in 6:13.80, leaving pair-mate Jordan Stolz more than 12 seconds behind in 14th place.
Sander Eitrem (NOR, right) took endurance bronze at the start of a season in which he's targeting the Allround Championships © ISU
The 21-year-old Norwegian was happy to take bronze, but says he’s not focusing on a single distance this season.
“It’s a nice start to the season, but my main goal is the World Allround Championships in Inzell (GER) in March,” he said.
In Germany he’ll probably face Stolz in a more even battle - the American has also set his sights on the Allround Championships, and he is able to put pressure on Eitrem in the shorter distances.
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ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series events 2023/24:
Nov 10 - 12, 2023 Obihiro /JPN
Nov 17 - 19, 2023 Beijing /CHN
Dec 01 - 03, 2023 Stavanger /NOR
Dec 08 - 10, 2023 Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
Jan 26 - 28, 2024 Salt Lake City /USA
Feb 02 - 04, 2024 Québec /CAN
About ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series
The ISU World Cup Speed Skating is a Series of Speed Skating competitions which have taken place annually since 1984. The series comprises six events (four during an Olympic season), with A Division and B Division races. Skaters can earn points at each competition, and the Skater with the most points on a given distance at the end of the series is the World Cup winner in that distance. The four World Cup Competitions held from November to December serve as qualifying events for entry quotas at the ISU European Championships, and the ISU Four Continents Championships. The whole series of six events serves as qualifying events for the World Single Distances Championships, and/or the World Sprint and Allround Speed Skating Championships.
World Cup titles are awarded in 500m, 1000m, 1500m, combined 5000m/10,000m, and Mass Start for men, and 500m, 1000m, 1500m, the combined 3000m/5000m, and Mass Start for women. Both genders also compete for the World Cup titles in Team Pursuit and Team Sprint. New in the 2023/24 program is the Mixed Gender Relay over six laps, in which teams of one man and one woman compete.
(For full explanation of this season’s ISU World Cup (entry rules, formats, qualifying, and prizes: https://www.isu.org/speed-skating/rules/ssk-communications/31562-isu-communication-2587/file)
