ISU

Nils van der Poel (SWE) received the Oscar Mathisen Award for the most impressive Speed Skating Performance of last season, just after he had showcased one of the most impressive performances of the current season in Stavanger today. The Swedish World Record Holder was in a league of his own in the only 10,000m race of this World Cup Season, leaving the rest of the field more than 17 seconds behind. Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) won the Men’s 500 metres and China took Team Sprint Gold.

Following her maiden World Cup win in Poland last week, Erin Jackson (USA) claimed her third Gold Medal in a row in the Women’s 500 metres during the second day of the World Cup in Stavanger. Nao Kodaira (JPN) finished second, with Kaja Ziomek (POL) – The 24-year-old Sprinter who would later win in the Women’s Team Sprint – finishing third.

The 2021 World silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan scored his second ISU Grand Prix victory of the season at the Internationaux de France in Grenoble. Shun Sato rose from fourth to second to make it one-two for the Japanese Men, while Jason Brown (USA) remained in third place to take the bronze.

Suzanne Schulting (NED) is a skater who it seems can do no wrong. At the 2020-21 World Championships, she elevated herself to another level up from her rivals, winning all three individual gold medals – the 1500m, 1000m and 500m.

“I think I deserve a cake,” said Shaolin Sandor Liu (HUN) as he came off the ice on Saturday at the ISU World Cup Short Track in Debrecen – and the local hero will certainly never forget his 26th birthday. 

Four-time World Champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France dominated the Internationaux de France and danced to their sixth gold medal at their home Grand Prix event ahead of Canada’s Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier.

2021 ISU World Champion Anna Shcherbakova of Russia skated off with her second ISU Grand Prix gold medal this season at the Internationaux de France in Grenoble Saturday. 

Irene Schouten (NED) continued to dominate the long distances in the ISU World Cup. Fresh from victory in last weekend’s 3000m, she was the only one to produce a negative split in the 5000m on Friday to add another gold medal to her tally. Brittany Bowe (USA) kept up her own winning ways in the 1000m in Stavanger. 

2021 ISU World bronze medalists Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitri Kozlovskii of Russia took a confident lead in the Pairs Short Program at the ISU Grand Prix Internationaux de France in Grenoble. Teammates Iuliia Artemeva/Mikhail Nazarychev are currently ranked second while Canada’s Vanessa James/Eric Radford placed third.

The Dutch repeated last week’s clean sweep in the Men’s 1000m but the order was different at the second leg of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Stavanger. Thomas Krol (NED), who finished second in Poland, stood on top after what third-placed Kjeld Nuis labelled “the strongest event in Men’s Speed Skating at the moment". Kai Verbij took silver this time while Hein Otterspeer (NED) had to settle for eighth place after his victory last weekend.

2021 World silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan skated to a strong lead in the Men’s Short Program at the ISU Grand Prix Internationaux de France, winning with 11 points to spare. Latvia’s Deniss Vasiljevs finished second, edging Jason Brown (USA) by less than half a point.

Four-time World Champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France danced to the lead in the Rhythm Dance at the ISU Grand Prix Internationaux de France in Grenoble on Friday. Canada’s Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier came second while Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin (RUS) are currently ranked third.

2021 ISU World Champion Anna Shcherbakova (RUS) debuted a brand new Short Program to take the lead at the ISU Grand Prix Internationaux de France in Grenoble on Friday. Teammates Alena Kostornaia and Kseniia Sinitsyna follow in second and third.

Four years ago, heading into PyeongChang 2018, Hungary had never won a Winter Olympic gold medal. It was a disappointing statistic, considering the country had sent athletes to all 22 previous Games. But the fact remained: Hungary was a summer sports powerhouse that simply didn’t excel in the snow and ice events.

After an exciting start to the 2021/22 ISU World Cup Speed Skating season, competition continues with the second installment in Stavanger, Norway this Friday. Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR) missed last week’s opening World Cup in Tomaszów Mazowiecki (POL) after a nasty bike crash last May and returns to the ice in front of his home crowd.