Patrick Roest (NED) seized his third consecutive European 5000m title after an intriguing head-to-head-battle with main rival Davide Ghiotto (ITA) on the second day of the ISU European Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen. Before the long-distance specialist took the ice, Marek Kania, Piotr Michalski, Damian Zurek skated a track record to celebrate gold for Poland in the Team Sprint.
Patrick Roest won his third European 5000m title in a row in Heerenveen, Netherlands © Getty Images
Roest enjoys Ghiotto challenge
Before Roest took on Ghiotto in the penultimate pairing of the 5000m, Sander Eitrem (NOR) had stopped the clock at 6:09.28.
The top two in the World Cup ranking skated quicker than their Norwegian rival right from the start. Roest anticipated Ghiotto’s usual strategy of starting fast, but Ghiotto took over the initiative at the 1400m split.
Patrick Roest and Davide Ghiotto went head to head for European 5000m gold in Heerenveen, Netherlands © Getty Images
Roest kept his composure and relied on his ability to accelerate towards the end. Bringing his lap times under 29 seconds, he gradually reeled in Ghiotto, who slowly lost pace in the final five laps. Roest finished in 6:05.93, his third-best time ever at Thialf Stadium, while Ghiotto fought to stay ahead of Eitrem’s time. The Italian eventually finished in 6:08.27, 1:01 ahead of the Norwegian, who had to settle for bronze.
Patrick Roest celebrates in front of his home fans at the 2024 Europeans in Heerenveen, Netherlands © Getty Images
Roest said he enjoyed the tactical battle with his Italian rival:
“You know it’s going to be a good race against Ghiotto. We’ve skated against each other before this season and we both know each other quite well. I started out really fast because I know his first full lap is really quick, so we got about level [at the 600m split], and then you can start racing. It’s not just time-trial, it’s also tactics, which is great.
“I know that [Ghiotto] is always challenging me, because he’s a world class skater. We congratulated each other after the race. He’s a great opponent. We fight on the ice, but always have a nice chat off the ice. I think he enjoys the battle too.”
Ghiotto indeed also enjoyed the fight, although he hadn’t thought too much about strategy:
“I wanted to skate under 6:10 and after two laps against I just thought okay, let’s give it a try.
“I don’t have any strategy. The beginning was maybe a bit too fast for me, but I have to try. I saw Patrick’s time halfway through the race and I know he’s much faster than me in the second part.
Davide Ghiotto battled to 5000m silver at the 2024 Europeans in Heerenveen, Netherlands © ISU
“With two laps to go I realized that it was close [for the bronze medal with Eitrem], and it’s impossible to stay with Patrick, so I knew I had one second [advantage over Eitrem]. I was tired but I knew I’d be able to keep that second in the final lap.”
After skating a world record with Norway in Friday’s Team Pursuit, Eitrem executed a new strategy in the 5000m:
“I started a little bit too fast, but I gave it a chance. Normally I start really easy and try to go faster and faster, but today I wanted to try something new and I think I can learn from that.”
Sander Eitrem added 5000m bronze to his Team Pursuit gold at the 2024 Europeans in Heerenveen, Netherlands © ISU
Track record and gold for Poland
In the Team Sprint, Poland [Marek Kania, Piotr Michalski, Damian Zurek] convincingly beat the Netherlands in the second pairing. Finishing in 1:18.31, they shaved 0.61 off the previous track record set by Russia in 2020. The Dutch team [Stefan Westenbroek, Jenning de Boo, Wesly Dijs] broke apart in the first 200m, with Dijs as third skater struggling to finish 2.30 behind Poland’s Zurek.
Poland celebrate their Team Sprint gold at the 2024 Europeans in Heerenveen, Netherlands © ISU
“This is something we probably didn’t expect”, Michalski said.
“Of course we wanted a medal and ultimately wanted to win but skating a track record and doing a lap of honor with our flag and a standing ovation from the stadium, that was amazing.”
Like most teams Poland also used the relatively new slingshot changeover from the second to the third skater.
“We also do it in Short Track,” Michalski continued. “So we weren’t worried about it. Since the Americans started to do it and won, everybody has to do it, because if you want to challenge them, you need to change up like this.”
Poland dominated the second pairing in the Team Sprint at the 2024 Europeans in Heerenveen, Netherlands © ISU
Yet the Polish slingshot didn’t work out too well.
“It was not perfect,” Zurek explained. “We pushed from the elbow instead of taking the hand. We made a few mistakes so the track record can even be faster.”
Poland won European gold in the Team Sprint with a track record time in Heerenveen, Netherlands © ISU
The Netherlands made their biggest mistake early in the race, when Dijs got dropped by Westenbroek and de Boo. Norway [Pal Myhren Kristensen, Bjorn Magnussen, Havard Lorentzen] then took advantage in the final pairing, skating a lot faster to take silver in 1:18.81.
“I was a little bit surprised that Poland skated 1:18 low,” Magnussen said. “That’s not far from the world record [1:17.31, Canada 2017], which is set on a high-altitude track.
“We knew we had to do a good race. We messed up a little in the first lap, so we missed a bit of acceleration, but I felt we had good speed. We were the team that held the speed the best.”
Lorentzen added: “Our time was the second best in Thialf ever, and we beat the Dutch, so we are happy with our performance.”
Norway swept to European Team Sprint silver in the final pairing in Heerenveen, Netherlands © ISU
The Dutch were a little disappointed to come in third. De Boo, who won individual silver in Friday’s 1000m, said:
“It’s another medal, but we’re not really satisfied. We had a plan. All three of us can skate a very fast lap, but to do it together in a team is still very tough.”
Netherlands recovered from a poor start to take European Team Sprint bronze in Heerenveen, Netherlands © ISU
Third men Dijs explained how he got dropped in the first 200m:
“I was really focused on the first 50m. I really anticipated well to the start shot, but Jenning didn’t so I held back a little and then you’re already 1-0 down. But I knew how it felt because we had the same problem at last year’s World Championships.
"In the end we made the best of it, but if we got out of the first corner together, we can skate for gold.”
The European Championships concludes on Sunday. with the women’s Team Pursuit, the men’s 1500m, the women’s 1000m, the men’s 500m and the Mass Start for both genders.
For schedules and results of the ISU European Speed Skating Championships, please visit the webpage here.
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