Erfurt / Germany

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Kjeld Nuis (NED) equaled the track record to secure his second 1000m gold of the World Cup in Erfurt on Sunday. The world champion matched the time set by Shani Davis (USA) in 2009 when he finished in one minute 8.40 seconds to beat Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR) in the final pair. Lorentzen clocked 1:08.66 to finish second and Denis Yuskov (RUS) took bronze in 1:08.95.

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Despite being 0.17 faster than his Saturday victory, Nuis was not satisfied with his latest performance. He said that Saturday’s final lap had been excellent, while on Sunday his first 600m had been good, but he messed up in the final lap.

“My strokes on that final cross-over were too long, I tried to put too much power in every stroke,” he said. “That’s what I did way better yesterday, just keep that rhythm. That’s the mistake, you just have to stay focused on skating well.”

Nuis was happy to write his name in the track record books of the Gunda-Niemann-Stirnemann Halle.

“That’s great, but well, 1:08.39 would have looked even better.”

The World Champion now travels to the Italian outdoor track in Collalbo for a short pre-Olympic training camp.

“I look forward to Collalbo, it’s just for that last tough training effort. After that it’s easing into Olympic form.”

Lorentzen still leads the 1000m World Cup standings with 412 points. Nuis climbed to second place with 380 points and Kai Verbij (NED), who was absent in Erfurt due to a muscle injury, is third with 320 points.

 Full results and classifications. Follow the discussion on social media by using #WCSpeed and #SpeedSkating and watch the live stream on the ISU Skating Channel.