Despite the return of Olympic champion Irene Schouten (NED), Ragne Wiklund (NOR) took gold in the 3000m at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Beijing on Sunday. In the 500m, Erin Jackson (USA) added a second gold of the weekend to make it a three-race winning streak, before an improvised Dutch squad completed the women’s competition with victory in the Team Sprint.
After winning in Obihiro last week, Wiklund was nervous about the second 3000m race of the 2023/24 World Cup thanks to the return of Schouten and fellow Dutch star Marijke Groenewoud (NED), who had missed the start of the season.
Gold again: Ragne Wiklund (NOR) makes it two wins in as many weeks in the 3000m © ISU
Following her absence in Japan, Groenewoud had to start in the B Division, but took full advantage of the quartet-start and the extra air rotation that is generated to finish in three minutes, 59.34 seconds, less than three seconds off Schouten’s 2022 Olympic and track record.
The Olympic champion herself went out in the first pairing of the A Division, but was off the pace from the start, eventually finishing more than ten seconds behind Groenewoud in 4:10.62.
Han Mei (CHN) was the first to beat Schouten’s time in the A Division, and seven others followed. Han’s time of 4:05.45 still stood when Wiklund took to the ice versus veteran long-distance specialist Martina Sáblíková (CZE).
The 3000m medalists (l-r): Martina Sáblíková (CZE), Ragne Wiklund (NOR), Mei Han (CHN) © ISU
“The B Division was very fast today, but I thought it was possible to skate faster than last week and after the warm-up I was quite confident,” the Norwegian world champion said.
“But then after three laps, it felt quite heavy and I started to worry a bit, but I’m glad I managed to maintain my pace.”
Wiklund finished in 4:03.41 to take gold, with multiple world champion Sáblíková seizing silver – and her first podium of the season - in 4:04.86.
“That’s really nice,” she said. “But the ice here in Beijing is so tough. I was lucky to skate against Ragne, who is the best in the world right now, and I could follow.”
Sáblíková enjoyed the fact that the women’s long distances have become very competitive, even if that means earning fewer podiums than she was used to in the past. “I just try to enjoy the skating, because at age 36, it’s a little bit harder to skate so fast.”
Han was excited to skate in front of a home crowd and add another medal to her Beijing tally. Having claimed silver in the 1500m on Friday, she collected Team Sprint bronze after coming in third in the 3000m, crediting the training she put in over the summer.
”Being with Team Gold, Miho [Takagi, JPN] and [coach] Johan [de Wit, NED], they’ve been a big motivation. I learn a lot from Miho Takagi and the other athletes.”
Jackson shrugs off post-Olympic rust
In the 500m, Erin Jackson (USA) seems back to her best. After a so-so 2022/23 season and a second place behind teammate Kimi Goetz in Obihiro, the Olympic champion has won three consecutive races. On Sunday, she clocked 37.54s to beat last season’s World Cup champion Kim Min Sun (KOR) by 0.31 seconds.
Fully focused: Olympic champion Erin Jackson (USA) lets her skating do the talking with a hat-trick of 500m wins © ISU
“Last season, I didn't skate a whole lot,” she explained. “In the summertime, I was traveling a lot and doing speeches and other media things just coming off the Olympics. So I was in pretty bad shape, coming into the race season. I think I completed one training block with my team going in at the time.
“This year has been still not as great as it was in the two years leading up to the Olympics, but way better than last year. So hopefully I'll get more consistency going forward and build it up again.”
Coming off a great season last year, Kim has been struggling to find her groove, but with a bronze on Friday and a silver on Sunday, she too seems to be on the way back up.
“I changed my boots this season. So I'm still adjusting. I have a little trouble at the start, but compared to Friday it was a lot better today. I can still improve, so I’m looking forward to the next races.”
Minsun Kim (KOR) competing at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Beijing, China © ISU
Jutta Leerdam (NED) ended up in third place, as she did in Saturday’s 1000m, her signature distance.
She said: “I messed up my first race last weekend, so the classification in the 500m is not a real goal anymore, but of course I want to get on the podium each time I skate and I also want to win a 500m race, because except for a race at the national championships, I’ve never won one.”
Jutta Leerdam (NED): bronze medalist in the 500m at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Beijing, China © ISU
Dutch experimental line-up takes Team Sprint gold
Helga Drost, Naomi Verkerk and Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (NED) finished the women’s competition with a convincing win in the Team Sprint. With Femke Kok and Marrit Fledderus pulling out due to illness, the Dutch team started with an improvised line-up.
“Initially I was not even on the final entry list,” Rijpma-De Jong said, "but it’s a great event and I really enjoyed it today.”
Netherlands win Team Sprint gold having never previously raced together © ISU
The three Dutch women had never trained nor raced a Team Sprint together before, but finished in 1 minute and 27.74s, more than a second ahead of Canada trio Brooklyn McDougall, Maddison Pearman and Ivanie Blondin. Poland’s Iga Wojtasik, Andzelika Wójcik and Karolina Bosiek took bronze.
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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)
