Miho Takagi (JPN) won yet another gold in the 1500m at the ISU World Cup in Stavanger on Saturday. Making amends for a sloppy 1000m on Friday, she made it three out of three in the longer distance in this season’s World Cup. Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (NED) added another silver medal to her tally after having finished second in the 1000m on Friday too, and Marijke Groenewoud (NED) seized the bronze.
Takagi regains composure in favorite distance
Groenewoud set the bar at 1 minute and 56.99s in the second of 10 pairings and she stayed on top of the leaderboard until Takagi took on Kimi Goetz (USA) in the eighth pairing. It was the same matchup as in the 1000m the previous day when, according to Takagi’s coach Johan de Wit (NED), his pupil had been distracted by Goetz’s fast start.
“That was a very bad race,” De Wit said about Takagi’s bronze medal skate. “We even had a little argument about it, because I think that she’s not supposed to skate [as sloppy] as she did yesterday.
“She skated the whole race without her arms on the back. Why would you do that? She skated versus Kimi and that means you have to make sure you’ll get a favorable cross-over. We discussed that beforehand, but that doesn’t mean you should skate like a loose cannon.”
Miho Takagi (JPN) made it three 1500m wins from three in this season's World Cup with a comfortable victory in Stavanger © ISU
Takagi was conscious of her previous mistakes and made sure to avoid them this time around. With a 25.57s opener she got out of the blocks faster than her opponent. Goetz managed to keep up with Takagi until the 700m split, but the Japanese skater kept her composure and nailed it with the fastest penultimate and final laps of the field.
“I changed my timing because it’s very difficult to push and make pace on this ice,” she explained. “Losing yesterday was unnecessary. Johan [coach Johan de Wit] told me there’s nothing wrong with my physical shape, I just had to mind my technique.”
Takagi beat Groenewoud’s mark by 1.12s, before Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong took on Ragne Wiklund (NOR) in the penultimate pairing. Leaving the home favorite behind, Rijpma-de Jong was just 0.01s off Takagi’s time at the 700m split, but she conceded more than a second to the leader in the final two laps, eventually finishing 1.08 adrift.
Despite the big gap, Johan de Wit was underwhelmed by Takagi’s time. “The level in the women’s 1500m is not so high at the moment. The track record is under 1:55 by Heather Bergsma-Richardson (USA), and that’s years ago.”
Takagi herself didn’t want to look at other skaters.
“I just want to focus on myself. I don’t look at the gap with the others. I always want to improve and that’s step by step.”
Rijpma-de Jong still working on perfect race
Silver medalist Rijpma-de Jong was happy with her race.
“I’m improving technically. My start was a lot better [than yesterday in the 1000m], but the middle part was not so good, but overall I’m content,” she said.
Dutch teammates Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (left) and Marijke Groenewoud (right) took silver and bronze behind Takagi © ISU
“Although I’m improving, there’s always bits and pieces I can do better. Yesterday it was at the start, this time in the middle part. I still have to piece it together for the perfect race.
“In that middle part, that’s about a second, so if everything goes well, I’d be able to [fight for first place]. It’s all so close. Anyway, this race gives me the confidence that I’m close and that it’s all within reach.”
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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)
