Jutta Leerdam (NED) and Irene Schouten (NED) made amends for their disappointing results in Beijing two weeks ago on an all-orange Friday night at the ISU World Cup event in Stavanger, Norway. Leerdam bounced back to win 1000m gold while Schouten, relegated to the long distance B Division after finishing eighth in the 3000m in Beijing, won the Stavanger Mass Start convincingly.
Defeat makes victory sweeter for Leerdam
When Leerdam took on Han Mei (CHN) in the final paring of the 1000m, Miho Takagi (JPN) was on top of the leaderboard with a time of 1 minute and 15.52s. The Dutch World Champion had the same opener as the Japanese Olympic gold medallist, but she was much faster at the 600m split, posting the fastest first full lap of the field in 27.1s against Takagi’s 27.5s.
Despite feeling the fatigue in her legs taking over, Leerdam managed to limit her losses to just 0.1 second over the final lap, finishing 0.26s ahead of Takagi.
“When I slow down, it’s not too bad, because I already made a lot of speed and when I maintain my position and keep pushing, I’m able to maintain that pace,” Leerdam said.
Jutta Leerdam (NED) bounced back from defeat in Beijing to win the 1000m and take a share of top spot in the World Cup rankings © ISU
Winning again, after having lost her six-race streak to Takagi the last time out, gave her an extra boost.
“If you win time and again, you gradually lose the euphoria of victory. The only thing you can do is maintain what you’ve got or lose. Instead of celebrating another win, you check the box. Now that I’ve lost one, I’m happier to be back on top this time.”
Leerdam’s 60 World Cup points bring her level with Takagi on top of the standings, but she did not really care. The Dutch skater has not set her sights on the World Cup ranking, and will skip next week’s round in Poland.
“Last year I won every race and I did not win the ranking because I skipped one World Cup. Of course, I understand the rules and they don’t want you to skip races, but I think it was not fair. I’m not interested in that ranking anymore, but when I’m at the start, I want to win.”
Takagi also wants to win every race, and was frustrated after coming up short in Stavanger.
“My skating was very bad today, I could not control my body well and I could not control my skating, I just did not make the right connection,” she said.
“I’ve got an idea what’s wrong and I think I know how to improve it, it’s both a technical and a physical thing.”
Miho Takagi (JPN) was frustrated not to repeat her 1000m win from Beijing but gets another chance in the 1500m © ISU
Takagi will get another chance in Saturday’s 1500m, which she’ll start as the big favorite having won the first two World Cup races at the distance.
Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (NED) will be one of Takagi’s main rivals in the 1500m. With 29.4s, the 28-year-old Dutchwoman posted the fastest final lap of the field in Friday’s 1000m, to finish in 1:15.74 and take bronze.
“I had a lot of mistakes at the start, but I was able to fight and technically I’m improving. [That final lap] tells me I’m in good shape going into that 1500m tomorrow.”
Schouten minds the gap and breaks the bunch
The women’s Mass Start race had a different dynamic than usual, and Irene Schouten (NED) appreciated just that, joining a three-woman breakaway when the opportunity presented itself.
“The Swiss girls came out with a plan,” Schouten said. “That’s good, for them it’s not just simply follow the rest. I think they had set out for points [in intermediate sprints], which led to a little gap in the pack. When that gap closed Mia [Mia Kilburg-Manganello, USA] attacked. I followed and Valérie Maltais (CAN) came along.
“We quickly got a 250m gap and then my coaches just told me to take it easy.”
Schouten eventually brought home the gold with a powerful last lap, leaving her fellow escapees behind and lapping most of the bunch on the final straight.
Irene Schouten (NED, right) bides her time behind breakaway partner Valérie Maltais (CAN) in the women's Mass Start © ISU
Eventually only six skaters officially completed the race, because all the others were lapped.
For Schouten, the gold did not make up for her 3000m disappointment in Beijing.
“The Mass Start is a different type of race, anything can happen. Unfortunately I’m in the B Division for Sunday’s 5000m. I always want to race against the best but, well, I’ll have to make sure to get back to the A Division then.”
Behind Schouten, Maltais sprinted to silver and Kilburg took bronze.
The Canadian had mixed feelings.
“For me this weekend it worked out on the breakaway with two other strong girls. I’m really happy about today, but for my teammate [Ivanie Blondin], it’s not an ideal situation.”
Mia Kilburg-Manganello (USA, right) joined Maltais and Schouten among the medals after their successful breakaway © ISU
Kilburg had decided upon a different strategy before the race, and said she had enjoyed every second of it.
“I got tired of waiting for others to compete against the Dutch. They're amazing at what they do, they understand tactics, but I'm tired of racing for seconds. So I decided to take the race into my own hands and try to create an opportunity,” she said.
“Of course, I would have liked to fight for the first place. I actually miscounted the laps and I didn't hear the bell but regardless it was a good confidence booster for me to understand myself and know I had the capability of playing the game.”
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Where to watch
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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)
