The second half of the ISU Speed Skating World Cup series starts this weekend at the Thialf Ice Stadion in Heerenveen (NED), with a titanic clash looming between Japan’s Olympic 500 m champ Nao Kodaira and Austrian Vanessa Herzog.
Kodaira swept all four 500 m races in the first two World Cups, but did not compete in Poland last week and Herzog claimed gold in her place. Now what?
That’s one of several intriguing races on the program. At the halfway mark, the seasonal World Cup leaders:
Men:
∙ 500 m:
1. 296 Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN)
2. 272 Pavel Kuliznikov (RUS)
3. 260 Havard Lorentzen (NOR)
∙ 1,000 m:
1. 148 Kai Verbij (NED)
2. 134 Havard Lorentzen (NOR)
3. 120 Pavel Kuliznikov (RUS)
∙ 1,500 m:
1. 137 Seitaro Ichinohe (JPN)
2. 120 Denis Yuskov (RUS)
120 Min-Seok Kim (KOR)
∙ 5,000/10,000 m:
1. 144 Alexander Rumyantsev (RUS)
2. 137 Marcel Bosker (NED)
3. 134 Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR)
∙ Mass Start:
1. 312 Cheonho Um (KOR)
2. 280 Bart Swings (BEL)
3. 256 Livio Wenger (SUI)
Women:
∙ 500 m:
1. 336 Vanessa Herzog (AUT)
2. 272 Olga Fatkulina (RUS)
3. 257 Brittany Bowe (USA)
∙ 1,000 m:
1. 157 Brittany Bowe (USA)
2. 148 Miho Takagi (JPN)
3. 146 Vanessa Herzog (AUT)
∙ 1,500 m:
1. 168 Miho Takagi (JPN)
2. 157 Ireen Wust (NED)
3. 156 Brittany Bowe (USA)
∙ 3,000/5,000 m:
1. 149 Esmee Visser (NED)
2. 146 Isabelle Weidemann (CAN)
3. 145 Natalia Voronina (RUS)
∙ Mass Start:
1. 216 Bo-Reum Kim
2. 194 Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA)
3. 176 Ivanie Blondin (CAN)
American Brittany Bowe, herself a four-time World Champion, is quietly have an excellent season, in the top three of the 500-1,000-1,500 m standings and with wins in both the 1,000 m and 1,500 m.
NBC’s Olympic Channel has delayed coverage from Heerenveen on Saturday beginning at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday and 11 p.m. on Sunday. Look for results here.
