American Brittany Bowe (pictured) won her first ISU World Cup title in 2 1/2 years with a victory in the women’s 1,500 at the season-opening meet at the Meiji Hokkaido-Tokachi Oval in Obihiro (JPN).
Four-time World Champion Bowe has returned from concussion issues to make the U.S. Olympic Team in 2018 and won a bronze medal in the Team Pursuit. Now 30, she’s back on the circuit once again and scored her 18th career World Cup victory with a strong performance in the 1,500 m, edging Japan’s Miho Takagi, 1:55.034-1:55.127.
“It feels great to finish at the top and set a new track record today in the 1,500 m,” said Bowe afterwards. “With such a talented field of skaters racing, I’m honored to walk away with that one for sure.”
Her last World Cup win was back on 13 March 2016, so it’s been a while. But the 1,500 m win was only part of a busy weekend for Bowe, who also finished fifth and sixth in the 500 m races, and fourth in the 1,000 m.
Japan’s great sprinter Nao Kodaira won both of the women’s 500 m races and Olympic 5,000 m champ Esmee Visser (NED) won the women’s 3,000 m.
Russians Pavel Kulizhnikov (500 m race II and 1,000 m) and Denis Yuskov (1,500 m) dominated the men’s racing, along with a 500 m win (race 1) from Olympic champ Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR). Summaries:
ISU Speed Skating World Cup
Obihiro (JPN) ~ 16-18 November 2018
(Full results here)
Men
500 m I: 1. Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR), 34.732; 2. Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS), 34.777; 3. Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN). Also: 17. Kimani Griffin (USA), 35.568.
500 m II: 1. Kulizhnikov (RUS), 34.619; 2. Ryohei Haga (JPN), 34.716; 3. Lorentzen (NOR), 34.771. Also: 20. Griffin (USA), 35.885.
1,000 m: 1. Kulizhnikov (RUS), 1:07.868; 2. Kjeld Nuis (NED), 1:08.392; 3. Thomas Krol (NED), 1:08.623. Also: 15. Griffin (USA), 1:10.290; 16. Joey Mantia (USA), 1:10.384.
1,500 m: 1. Denis Yuskov (RUS), 1:44.550; 2. Nuis (NED), 1:44.819; 3. Patrick Roest (NED), 1:45.124. Also: 19. Mantia (USA), 1:48.989.
5,000 m: 1. Patrick Roest (NED), 6:13.019; 2. Alexander Rumyantsev (RUS), 6:17.677; 3. Marcel Bosker (NED), 6:18.121.
Mass Start: 1. Andrea Giovannini (ITA), 7:40.990; 2. Simon Schouten (NED), 7:41.000; 3. Cheonho Um (KOR), 7:41.030. Also: 13. Mantia (USA), 8:05.160.
Team Sprint: 1. Netherlands (Mulder, Otterspeer, Nuis, Verbij), 1:19.780; 2. Norway, 1:20.790; 3. Canada, 1:20.980.
Team Pursuit: 1. Russia (Rumyantsev, Semerikov, Trofimov, Zakharov), 3:41.260; 2. Netherlands, 3:42.140; 3. Norway, 3:42.770.
Women
500 m I: 1. Nao Kodaira (JPN), 37.496; 2. Vanessa Herzog (AUT), 37.624; 3. Maki Tsuji (JPN), 38.040. Also: 5. Brittany Bowe (USA), 38.133; … 18. Erin Jackson (USA), 39.222.
500 m II: 1. Kodaira (JPN), 37.298; 2. Herzog (AUT), 37.651; 3. Olga Fatkulina (RUS), 37.876. Also: 6. Bowe (USA), 38.070; … 18. Jackson (USA), 38.864.
1,000 m: 1. Herzog (AUT), 1:14.668; 2. M. Takagi (JPN), 1:14.824; 3. Kodaira (JPN), 1:14.842. Also: 4. Bowe (USA), 1:15.000.
1,500 m: 1. Bowe (USA), 1:55.034; 2. M. Takagi (JPN), 1:55.127; 3. Yekaterina 1:55.458.
3,000 m: 1. Esmee Visser (NED), 4:04.607; 2. Natalia Voronina (RUS), 4:05.023; 3. Martina Sabilkova (CZE), 4:05.235. Also: 16. Cariljn Schoutens (USA), 4:15.661.
Mass Start: 1. Nana Takagi (JPN), 8:58.090; 2. Irene Schouten (NED), 8:58.190; 3. Bo-Reum Kim (KOR), 8:58.530. Also: 10. Kimi Goetz (USA), 9:20.980.
Team Sprint: 1. Russia (Shikhova, Fatkulina, Golikova, Kachanova), 1:27.230; 2. Japan, 1:27.350; 3. Netherlands, 1:28.810.
Team Pursuit: 1. Japan (M. Takagi, N. Takagi, Sato, Sakai), 2:57.800; 2. Netherlands, 3:00.130; 3. Russia, 3:10.110.
