Femke Kok (NED) wrote her name into Netherlands speed skating history on Friday, becoming the first-ever Dutchwoman to win the 500m title at the World Single Distance Championships. She also gave the home crowd in Heerenveen reason to celebrate after a heartbreaking disqualification for the Dutch Team Pursuit women earlier in the evening. Canada were upgraded in their place from silver to gold.
Femke Kok made history as the Netherlands' first Women's 500m World Champion @ISU
Nerve-wracking wait ends in gold
Kok ended the World Cup season without a podium finish and therefore started relatively early in the field. Stopping the clock at 37.28 in the seventh of twelve parings, Kok didn’t know what her time would be worth.
Kok on her way to sealing 500m gold in Heerenveen @ISU
“I did not think it would be enough [for the gold medal]”, she said. “I saw Jordan Stolz’ time in the Men’s competition (34.10) and I thought we would need a track record for the winning time today.
“I had to wait so long after my race and I really didn’t know what to do in the meantime, It was nerve-wracking.”
The home fans in Heerenveen had plenty to celebrate with Kok's win @ISU
Vanessa Herzog (AUT) came closest to overhauling Kok’s time, taking silver in 37.33. She said:
“She [Kok] did a really good race today and she was just faster. I had a good race, my opening was not great, but I had the fastest lap. It could have been cleaner, but overall I’m pretty happy today.
Vanessa Herzog claimed the 500m silver medal @ISU
In the penultimate paring Kim Min Sun (KOR) faced Jutta Leerdam (NED). The South Korean, who claimed this season’s World Cup trophy by winning five out of six races, ran out of steam quickly and had to settle for fourth place in 37.56.
For Leerdam the race felt like a warm-up for Saturday’s 1000m, but she still managed to scoop bronze in 37.54.
“Before the race I thought I woud be happy with a podium place, but now it’s a bit mixed feelings. I opened 10.5 and if I skate a better lap, I can win, but I had a bad backstretch.
“Anyway, this gives me a lot of confidence for the 1000m tomorrow.”
Jutta Leerdam scooped bronze to give Netherlands a second 500m podium spot @ISU
Dutch heartbreak in Team Pursuit
Before the 500m race, the Thialf crowd was left disappointed when the home favorites were disqualified in the Team Pursuit. Joy Beune, Marijke Groenewoud and Irene Schouten had skated the fastest time by far, breaking the national record and the Thialf track record in 2:52.65.
They celebrated after crossing the finish line, but five minutes later Beune was disqualified for not wearing mandatory protective ankle gear properly.
“We checked everything beforehand, and everything was okay. My socks were in my shoes and my ankles were covered, but during the race it slipped up. I couldn’t do anything about it,” she said.
Canada (Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin, Valérie Maltais), who had skated the second fastest time in 2:54.58, were promoted from silver to gold.
Canada took Team Pursuit gold after home favorites Netherlands were disqualified @ISU
“I’m heartbroken for them,” Weidemann said.
“We went through a lot of emotions in five minutes. We were happy with how we raced. When we crossed the finish line, I was like, oh, that was really smooth, we skated well.
“And then we watched our time getting beat very easily by the Dutch, so we were really disappointed, and then to find out that they were disqualified, was another layer of complexity.
“Despite the fact that we get to stand on top of the podium today, I think we really got beat and that'll give us a lot of fire to get back to training.”
Japan (Ayano Sato, Momoka Horikawa, Sumire Kikuchi) ended up in silver with 2:57.30, while Team USA (Brittany Bowe, Mia Kilburg, Giorgia Birkeland) took bronze in 3:00.39.
Japan ended the Team Pursuit with silver in Heerenveen @ISU
Program
The World Single Distance Championships start with the 3000m for Women, the 5000m for Men and the Team Sprint events for both genders on Thursday. On the following two days the program is similar for both genders. Friday features the Team Pursuit and the 500m, and Saturday starts with the Mass Start semi-finals, followed by the 1000m, to conclude with the Mass Start finals. On Sunday both genders will contest the 1500m gold, before the event closes off with the 10,000m for men and the 5000m for women.
Where to Watch
Viewers will be able to watch the races via their national broadcasters’ channel. For countries where there are no broadcasters, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. You will find the full list on the Where to Watch webpage.
Subscribe to the ISU Newsletter to receive the latest information about events, and to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive notifications when live streams start or new videos are published.
For further information on the ISU World Speed Skating Championships, visit the event webpage here.
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