Salt Lake City / USA

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After his 1500m world record on Saturday, Denis Yuskov (RUS) concluded his Salt Lake City World Cup campaign with the 1000m gold on Sunday. Training partner Koen Verweij (NED) took silver again and Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS) clinched the bronze.

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Seven skaters set new personal best times in Sunday’s 1000m, but Shani Davis’s (USA) 2009 Salt Lake City world record (1:06.42) survived. Davis himself did not come close to his own top performance, skating 1:07.67 for 12th place.

Verweij was the first to break the 1:07 barrier in the second pairing versus Nico Ihle (GER). The Dutchman finished in 1:06.94, confirming that his speed is back after a two-year absence.

“I think I skated the second fastest lap of the day, so yes, the speed is there,” the Dutchman said.

His preparation had been far from ideal.

“I was mistaken by the time. I thought that I had to skate one hour later and I was still being massaged when I heard that I had to start. Maybe that was the reason I skated this fast.”

Verweij says there is still room for improvement in his 1000m. “The warm-up was not good and there were many mistakes in my race.”

Despite Verweij’s many mistakes, only Yuskov was faster. The Russian beat Joey Mantia (USA) in the seventh pair and finished in 1:06.92. Mantia came 10th in 1:07.63.

Kulizhnikov clocked 1:06.96 in an exciting race against Mika Poutala (FIN), who came seventh in 1:07.28.

In the final pair 1000m World Cup leader Kai Verbij (NED) and second-ranked Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR) did not manage to beat Yuskov’s time and they ended up fourth in 1:07.12, and ninth in 1:07.44 respectively.

Verbij retains his World Cup lead with a total of 320 points. Lorentzen is still second with 272 and Yuskov climbs to third place with 196 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.