The World Sprint Championships took place in the heart of speed skating country, the Netherlands and veteran stars were the winners after two days of dueling at 500 m and 1,000 m.
Among the men, it was Russia’s Pavel Kulizhnikov who won his third career Sprint title, after previously winning in 2015 and 2016. Interestingly, he only won one race, but placed consistently: third and first in the 500 m, and third and second in the 1,000 m.
Japan’s Tatsuya Shinhama was the runner-up, and at 22, is worth watching for the future. He won the first 500 m race and was second in the Sunday race. He fell back to fifth in both of the 1,000 m races, and ended up just 0.415 seconds from the gold medal. Dutch star Kjeld Nuis, who has won silver-bronze-silver in the past three World Sprint Champs, was third again.
The women’s competition was expected to be between Japan’s Nao Kodaira, Austria’s Vanessa Herzog and American Brittany Bowe, and it largely was. Kodaira, the Olympic champ at 500 m, was outstanding in her specialty, winning both of the short races, with Herzog second on Saturday and Bowe second on Sunday.
In the 1,000 m races, Bowe won on Saturday, but it was Miho Takagi (JPN) who came alive on Sunday, with a good fourth in the 500 m and then a win in the 1,000 m over Bowe.
Kodaira was good enough in the 1,000 m races – fourth and third – to win the title, her second in the past three years. Takagi’s performance on Sunday allowed her to pass Bowe by 0.13 seconds to claim the silver and Bowe took third, her fourth World Sprint medal (2-1-1) in the past five years. Summaries:
ISU Sprint Championships
Heerenveen (NED) ~ 23-24 February 2019
(Full results here)
Men
500 m I: 1. Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN), 34.66; 2. Kai Verbij (NED), 34.72; 3. tie, Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS) and Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR), 34.74; 5. tie, Viktor Mushtakov (RUS) and Ruslan Murashov (RUS), 34.75; 7. tie, Hein Otterspeer (NED) and Nico Ihle (GER), 34.92. Also: 26. Joey Mantia (USA), 36.06.
500 m II: 1. Kulizhnikov (RUS), 34.31; 2. Shinhama (JPN), 34.45; 3. Verbij (NED), 34.74; 4. Murashov (RUS), 34.77; 5. Artur Nogal (POL), 34.78; 6. Lorentzen (NOR), 34.91; 7. tie, Laurent Dubreuil (CAN), Mushtakov (RUS) and Kjeld Nuis (NED), 35.05.
1,000 m I: 1. Nuis (NED), 1:07.96; 2. Masaya Yamada (JPN), 1:08.03; 3. Kulizhnikov (RUS), 1:08.06; 4. Lorentzen (NOR), 1:08.19; 5. Shinhama (JPN), 1:08.57; 6. Otterspeer (NED), 1:08.67; 7. tie, Ihle (GER) and Joel Dufter (GER), 1:08.79. Also: 16. Mantia (USA), 1:10.15.
1,000 m II: 1. Nuis (NED), 1:07.80; 2. Kulizhnikov (RUS), 1:08.62; 3. Lorentzen (NOR), 1:08.73; 4. Ihle (GER), 1:08.76; 5. Shinhama (JPN), 1:08.82; 6. Verbij (NED), 1:08.85; 7. Masaya Yamada (JPN), 1:09.00; 8. Otterspeer (NED), 1:09.05.
Final Standings: 1. Kulizhnikov (RUS), 137.390; 2. Shinhama (JPN), 137.805; 3. Nuis (NED), 137.860; 4. Lorentzen (NOR), 138.110; 5. Verbij (NED), 138.490; 6. Yamada (JPN), 138.755; 7. Ihle (GER), 138.835; 8. Otterspeer (NED), 138.920.
Women
500 m I: 1. Nao Kodaira (JPN), 37,.27; 2. Vanessa Herzog (AUT), 37.31; 3. Angelina Golikova (RUS), 37.49; 4. Miho Takagi (JPN), 37.62; 5. Brittany Bowe (USA), 37.89; 6. Olga Fatkulina (RUS), 37.99; 7. Daria Kachanova (RUS), 38.00; 8. Yekaterina Aydova (KAZ), 38.04. Also: 15. Kimi Goetz (USA), 38.49; … 24. Brianna Bocox (USA), 39.47.
500 m II: 1. Kodaira (JPN), 37.41; 2. Bowe (USA), 37.67; 3. Golikova (RUS), 37.71; 4. Takagi (JPN), 37.74; 5. Herzog (AUT), 37.81; 6. Fatkulina (RUS), 37.90; 7. Aydova (KAZ), 37.94; 8. Maki Tsuji (JPN), 38.00. Also: 16. Goetz (USA), 38.81; … 23. Bocox (USA), 39.67.
1,000 m I: 1. Bowe (USA), 1:14.60; 2. Takagi (JPN), 1:14.82; 3. Kachanova (RUS), 1:14.94; 4. Kodaira (JPN), 1:15.01; 5. Sanneke de Neeling (NED), 1:15.08; 6. Jutta Leerdam (NED), 1:15.31; 7. Aydova (KAZ), 1:15.36; 8. Herzog (AUT), 1:15.78. Also: 19. Goetz (USA), 1:17.14; … 23. Bocox (USA), 1:18.37.
1,000 m II: 1. Takagi (JPN), 1:14.56; 2. Bowe (USA), 1:14.64; 3. Kodaira (JPN), 1:14.96; 4. Leerdam (NED), 1:15.03; 5. Aydova (KAZ), 1:15.04; 6. Sanneke de Neeling (NED), 1:15.28; 7. Kachanova (RUS), 1:15.33; 8. Fatkulina (RUS), 1:15.62. Also: 16. Goetz (USA), 1:16.85; … 22. Bocox (USA), 1:19.24.
Final Standings: 1. Kodaira (JPN), 149.665; 2. Takagi (JPN), 150.050; 3. Bowe (USA), 150.180; 4. Herzog (AUT), 151.045; 5. Aydova (KAZ), 151.180; 6. de Neeling (NED), 151.520; 7. Kachanova (RUS), 151.525; 8. Golikova (RUS), 151.575. Also: 17. Goetz (USA), 154.295; … 22. Bocox (USA), 157.945.
