The speed skating season concluded at the weekend in Berlin, where the World Single Distances Championships took place; the best skaters of the past season competed in all of the Olympic Distances, in a full three-day program.

Jeremy Wotherspoon (CAN) had recovered sufficiently from his back injury to give it everything, and he won the men’s 500m in impressive fashion. His second race, where he started in the inside lane, led to a new track record of 34.85. The silver medallist was won by Hiroyasu Shimizu (JPN), who was also recovering from a back injury, and the bronze medal was taken by Erben Wennemars (NED). Noteworthy was the fastest opening 100m ever skated, by Japanese Masaaki Kobayashi: 9.37 seconds. Shimizu used to hold that record with 9.39.


Anni Friesinger
(c) Teunis Versluis

In the 1500m ladies, Anni Friesinger (GER) was back on top. She was far ahead of the number two, Maki Tabata (JPN), and three, Jennifer Rodriguez (USA). Some of the other skaters were not in good condition; Claudia Pechstein (GER) even decided to skip the 1500m, because she was recovering from ‘flu and didn’t have the energy to skate three distances in three days. Cindy Klassen (CAN) caught a virus this weekend, and had no power, finishing only tenth. Friesinger also won the 3000m ladies, with Pechstein finishing second and the Olympic Silver medallist over 5000m, Gretha Smit (NED) third.
Friesinger then left the 5000m for someone else to take, preferring the 1000m. Much to her own surprise, she also won this distance, ahead of Jennifer Rodriguez and Cindy Klassen, who were also surprised that their times had been good enough for a medal. Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt was too happy with her strong season to let a disappointing 1000m annoy her.
The three most likely candidates for the 5000m ladies were the three skaters who made the Olympic podium last year. And they shared the honours indeed: Claudia Pechstein took the gold, and Clara Hughes (CAN) beat Gretha Smit (NED) this time to the silver.

The 5000m men showed strong performances from the Dutch men. Olympic champion Jochem Uytdehaage’s turn was in the penultimate pair, where he skated a strong race, faster than he had ever done in Europe, setting a track record of 6.25,29. This set the standard for the final pairing of Bob de Jong and Carl Verheijen about five seconds faster than they had anticipated. Carl Verheijen skated his own race to attain bronze while De Jong went for that 6.25, but came less than half a second short for the winning time. Disappointing for him initially, but soon he realized his race had been a very strong one.


Bob de Jong
(c) Teunis Versluis

The 10,000m men was the final chance for De Jong, after a very consistent season in which he earned a string of second place finishes. It was a wonderful finale for him. He set a track record of 13.21,33, beating number two, Carl Verheijen, by over 10 seconds, with the bronze medallist, Lasse Sætre (NOR) almost 20 seconds behind him.

The 1500m men is often the most spectacular race. Certainly it was this time, when Erben Wennemars sprinted to win the distance in a track record of 1.47,80. He had never won a world title before, and didn’t qualify for the Olympic 1500m last year, although he had had some very strong performances at this distance. “Keep fighting, keep training and the good will come out”, he said afterwards, fully enjoying every minute of his success and his new title of World Champion.

Ralf van der Rijst (NED) surprisingly grabbed the silver, and Joey Cheek (USA) won bronze. Russian World Cup winner Lalenkov had a hard time coping with his position as favourite and finished just outside the podium.

In the 500m ladies a big surprise was the win of Angelika Kotyuga (BLR) in the first race, with Manli Wang (CHN) second and Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt (GER) only third. Catriona LeMay Doan (CAN) was fourth. The second 500m put Monique back on top. “My skate wasn’t sharp enough in the first 500, maybe there had been some dirt on the ice. I sharpened it before the second run, and then it was good. I didn’t worry, because I know how hard it would be for Angelika to cope with that first place position at the second start.” Manli Wang who had lost a medal by 0.01 seconds at the World Sprint Championships, finished second at these championships, with Kotyuga following by 0.01 seconds. The tough Chinese athlete skated in spite of a recent groin injury, which also caused her to withdraw from the 1000m.

On the 1000m men, Erben Wennemars took his second victory, with ease, in another track record, 1.09,71. Gerard van Velde (NED) took silver, and Joey Cheek won another bronze medal.
One country whose skaters have made good progress this season is Finland. The fourth place earned by Janne Hänninen in the 1000m men was the highest rank of a Finnish skater in the Single Distances Championships.

World Single Distance Championships Speed Skating – Berlin (GER) - Medal Winners

Friday, March 14

500m Men

1	Jeremy Wotherspoon	CAN	35.12(1)  34.85(1)T  69.97
2	Hiroyasu Shimizu	JPN	35.19(2)  35.17(3)    70.36
3	Erben Wennemars	NED	35.53(3)  35.01(2)    70.54

1500m Ladies

1	Anni Friesinger	GER	1:57.43
2	Maki Tabata	JPN	1:59.30
3	Jennifer Rodriguez	USA	1:59.31

5000m Men

1	Jochem Uytdehaage	NED	6:25.29T
2	Bob de Jong	NED	6:25.76
3	Carl Verheijen	NED	6:30.46

Saturday, March 15

3000m Ladies

1	Anni Friesinger	GER	4:06.07
2	Claudia Pechstein	GER	4:07.99
3	Gretha Smit	NED	4:08.91

1500m Men

1	Erben Wennemars	NED	1:47.80
2	Ralf van der Rijst	NED	1:48.46
3	Joey Cheek	USA	1:48.56

500m Ladies

1	Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt	GER	38.67(3)  38.50(1)  77.17
2	Manli Wang	CHN	38.54(2)  38.75(4)  77.29
3	Angelika Kotyuga	BLR	38.51(1)  38.79(6)  77.30

Sunday, March 16

1000m Ladies

1	Anni Friesinger	GER	1:16.85
2	Jennifer Rodriguez	USA	1:17.28
3	Cindy Klassen	CAN	1:17.36

1000m Men

1	Erben Wennemars	NED	1:09.71T
2	Gerard van Velde	NED	1:10.52
3	Joey Cheek	USA	1:10.94

5000m Ladies

1	Claudia Pechstein	GER	7:04.52T
2	Clara Hughes	CAN	7:06.31
3	Gretha Smit	NED	7:06.34

10,000m Men

1	Bob de Jong	NED	13:21.33T
2	Carl Verheijen	NED	13:31.53
3	Lasse Sætre	NOR	13:40.69

For complete results click here.