Salt Lake City was the last World Cup before the Olympics and the skating was fast. Jenny Wolf (GER) started with a world record of 37.00 on the 500m, Shani Davis (USA) hugely improved the 1500m to 1:41.04, and Brian Hansen (USA) improved his junior world record to 1:44.45.

There were further national records for Argentina (Jennifer Calcedo 40.71), Australia (Daniel Greig 36.17 and 1:10.09, Ben Southee 1:47.65, Joshua Lose 6:27.03; Sophie Muir 38.60 and 1:16.18), Belarus (Julia Yasënok 4:13.98), China (Beixing Wang 37.02), Czech Republic (Milan Sáblik 1:49.03; Karolina Erbanová 38.90 and 1:15.81), Denmark (Catrine Grage 1:59.86, 4:07.73), Finland (Mika Poutala 34.31), France (Pascal Briand 1:10.41, Alexis Contin 6:15.74), Germany (Robert Lehmann 1:45.03, Patrick Beckert 6:19.82), Great Britain (Phil Brojaka 1:10.48), Italy (Matteo Anesi 1:08.42, Enrico Fabris 1:43.48, 6:06.06), Japan (Yuya Oikawa 34.27, Teruhiro Sugimori 1:45.49; Nao Kodaira 37.50, Maki Tabata 1:54.28), Kazachstan (Denis Kuzin 1:09.94; Yekaterina Aydova 1:16.62), Korea (Tae-Bum Mo 1:42.85, Seung-Hoon Lee 6:14.67; Sang Hwa Lee 37.24 and 1:15.26, Seon-Yeong Noh 1:56.38), Latvia (Harald Silovs 1:08.83, 1:45.90, 6:17.13) Mongolia (Galbaatar Uuganbaatar 1:52.41), New Zealand (Shane Dobbin 6:17.78), Poland (Maciej Ustynowicz 34.81 and 1:08.42, Konrad Niedzwiedzki 1:43.71, Slawomir Chmura 6:23.99; Katarzyna Bachleda-Curus 1:15.39), Romania (Marius Paraschivoiu 36.22 and 1:10.79, Valentin Anghel 1:51.05), Russia (Ivan Skobrev 6:10.58; Olga Fatkulina 1:14.50, Yekaterina Shikhova 1:54.78), Spain (Asier Peña Iturria 6:51.72), Sweden (Joel Eriksson 1:43.90); USA (Elli Ochowicz 37.74, Jennifer Rodriguez 1:54.19).

Most teams also set NRs in the team pursuit: the ladies from JPN, KAZ, KOR, NED, POL, RUS and USA and the men from ITA, JPN, KAZ, KOR, NOR, ROU, SWE and USA.

Ladies

On the first 500m ladies, Jenny Wolf (GER) established once again her lead over Beixing Wang (CHN) and Sang-Hwa Lee (KOR). Wolf opened in a not optimal 10.19 but her end time was a new world record: 37.00 exactly. Wang did it in 37.14, a Chinese record. Sang-Hwa Lee set a new Korean record, and took the bronze with 37.24. Wolf: “My goal was to set a WR in one of the four races in North-America. It is always wonderful to skate a world record. Hopefully I can go below 37 next time. The others are coming closer as well.”

In the 3000m, this time Martína Sábliková (CZE) knew the strong finish of Stephanie Beckert (GER) and made sure she stayed ahead all race. Her time 3:56.29 was an improvement of the old track record of Cindy Klassen (CAN), which stood at 3:56.90. Beckert was second with 3:57.78 and Kristina Groves (CAN) finished in third place with 3:58.67.

Sábliková increased her lead in the ranks to 460 points, Beckert has 430 and Anschütz-Thoms (GER) 315.

In the second 500m Wolf lost to Beixing Wang for the second time this season. Wang opened a ‘normal’ 10.32, and let it follow by the fastest lap ever: 26.70, to finish in a Chinese record time of 37.02. Wolf had problems with the last inner turn and was second in 37.17. Sang-Hwa Lee was third again and equaled her Korean record with 37.24. In the World Cup ranking Wolf leads with 760 points, Wang is second with 680 and Sang-Hwa Lee follows with 505 points.

The 1500m is dominated by two Canadian ladies. Christine Nesbitt crept closer to Kristina Groves, as Nesbitt won in 1:52.76, only 0.01 above her pb. Kristina Groves was second in 1:53.32. The third place this time was for Jennifer Rodriguez (USA), who improved her old national record to 1:54.19. In fourth place finished Maki Tabata with a Japanese record of 1:54.28. Groves has now 410 points, Nesbitt 360 and Wüst (NED) 257.

Christine Nesbitt won now every 1000m World Cup, finishing in 1:13.36, a new personal best and track record; the second fastest time ever. Beixing Wang continued to skate strongly and finished second, with 1:14.01. Nao Kodaira (JPN) was third with 1:14.17, also a pb. Nesbitt has 400 points, Annette Gerritsen (NED) follows with 205 and Kodaira with 202.

In the Team Pursuit the Russian ladies (Likhachova, Shikhova, Abramova) won in 2:57.18, the Canadian team with Nesbitt, Groves and Klassen finished as runner-up: 2:57.35. Both the Dutch (Wüst, De Vries, Van Deutekom) and Germany (with Beckert, Anschütz-Thoms and Mattscherodt set a time of 2:57.36, only 0.01 behind the silver. The Dutch are behind in thousands so the Germans receive the 70 points for third place.

Men

Whereas there were 6 different winners in the first 6 races, Kyou-Hyuk Lee (KOR) won his second 500m race of the season in a personal best time of 34.26. He just stayed ahead of Yuya Oikawa, who improved both himself and the Japanese record (which was Kato’s) to 34.27. Mika Poutala improved the Finnish record he skated last week to 34.31 and was third.

Shani Davis (USA) skated a new world record in the 1500m. Every lap up to 1100 m was faster than in his former world record. He opened 23.28, had a first full lap of 24.7 followed by 25.6 and finally 27.5 to reach 1:41.04. Last week’s winner Chad Hedrick (USA) now finished in second place (1:42.19) and Tae-Bum Mo surprisingly took bronze with 1:42.85, a Korean record time. Erben Wennemars (NED had a faster time than Mo, but got disqualified for staying too long in the outer lane coming out of the final inner turn. Olympic champion Enrico Fabris  skated a race with only 26 laps (6.1, 6.2 and 6.7) ending in an Italian record of 1:43.48. Davis leads with 480 before Bøkko (NOR) with 350 and Hedrick with 268 points.

In the second 500m, Kyou-Hyuk Lee was the strongest again, and again in 34.26. Mika Poutala lost his lead because of a loss of balance in his first straight. Second was Kang-Seok Lee with 34.28 and in third place finished Tucker Fredricks (USA) with 34.35. World record holder Jeremy Wotherspoon (CAN), in his first appearance in the A-division after his fall last year, finished last due to a loose blade. Now Kang-Seok Lee, with 523 points, has only a minor lead over his countryman Kyou-Hyuk Lee who has 521 and Poutala follows with 501.

Sven Kramer (NED) did not participate in this 5000m, and this gave someone else the chance to skate a season best time and take over the track record. The winner was possibly surprising: Enrico Fabris (ITA) managed 6:06.06. This is the second fastest 5000m ever skated, only Kramer was faster when skating his world record. Bob de Jong (NED) finished in 6:08.76, also a personal best, and Ivan Skobrev improved his recent Russian record to 6:10.58. In the B-division Dutch debutant Bob de Vries skated to 6:10.56, the third time of the day.

In the ranks, Kramer still has 400, De Jong 380 points and Skobrev with 325 points shuffles Håvard Bøkko off the podium.

Fabris (who had kept training hard when his new Russian team-mate Skobrev slowed it down because he needed to qualify in Russia): “There are two reasons I skate so much better than last week: I just changed my blades, and I found more motivation for myself and the energy and will to fight again. I was a little sleeping so to say in the beginning of the season. I was a little scared, didn’t understand why. I also have to say thanks to Skobrev, my new team mate. A bigger team is good, we used to have a small Italian team. It was a surprise to me that it didn’t come out before now. This gives me power and motivation to continue training towards Vancouver. I wasn’t happy with my season, but now I am. If Kramer were here we would have had a good fight like 3 years ago. I see him in Vancouver.”

Shani Davis won also his fourth 1000m World Cup this season. No record, but 1:06.67 is still the second fastest time. Kyou-Hyuk Lee equaled his Korean record and took silver again with 1:07.07, and in third place finished Mika Poutala with 1:07.24, shaving 0.9 second of his pb. Davis leads safely with 400 points, Tae-Bum Mo with 215 and Lee with 212 follow at a considerable distance.

This time it was the Norwegian team (Bøkko, Christiansen and Flygind-Larsen) that won the Team Pursuit. They set a NR of 3:39.55. Italy was second (Fabris, Anesi and Stefani), in 3:39.72, also a NR. Canada (Elm, Lukas Makowsky and Giroux 3:39.17) came in third place with 3:40.34.

Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating –Salt Lake City (USA) - Medal Winners

500m Ladies

1	Jenny Wolf	GER	37.00 WR
2	Beixing Wang	CHN	37.14 NR
2	Sang-Hwa Lee	KOR	37.24 NR

500m Men

1	Kyou-Hyuk Lee	KOR	34.26 P
2	Yuya Oikawa	JPN	34.27 NR
3	Mika Poutala	FIN	34.31 NR

500m Ladies

1	Beixing Wang	CHN	37.02 NR
2	Jenny Wolf	GER	37.17
3	Sang-Hwa Lee	KOR	37.24 =NR

500m Men

1	Kyou-Hyuk Lee	KOR	34.26 =P
2	Kang-Seok Lee	KOR	34.28
3	Tucker Fredricks	USA	34.35

1000m Ladies

1	Christine Nesbitt	CAN	1:13.36 TR
2	Beixing Wang	CHN	1:14.01
3	Nao Kodaira	JPN	1:14.17 P

1000m Men

1	Shani Davis	USA	1:06.67
2	Kyou-Hyuk Lee	KOR	1:07.07 =N
3	Mika Poutala	FIN	1:07.24 P

1500m Ladies

1	Christine Nesbitt	CAN	1:52.76
2	Kristina Groves	CAN	1:53.32
3	Jennifer Rodriguez	USA	1:54.19 NR

1500m Men

1	Shani Davis	USA	1:41,04 WR
2	Chad Hedrick	USA	1:42.19
2	Tae-Bum Mo	KOR	1:42.85 NR

3000m Ladies

1	Martina Sábliková	CZE	3:56.29 TR
2	Stephanie Beckert	GER	3:57.78
3	Kristina Groves	CAN	3:58.67

5000m Men

1	Enrico Fabris	ITA	6:06.06 TR, NR
2	Bob de Jong	NED	6:08.76 P
3	Ivan Skobrev	RUS	6:10.58 NR

Bob de Vries (NED) won the B-division in 6:10.56 (p)

Team Pursuit Ladies

1	Galina Likhachova, Yekaterina Shikhova, Yekaterina Abramova	RUS	2:55.79 NR,TR
2	Kristina Groves, Christine Nesbitt, Cindy Klassen	CAN	2:57.35
3	Stephanie Beckert, Daniela Anschütz-Thoms, Katrin Mattscherodt	GER	2:57.36

Team Pursuit Men

1	Håvard Bøkko, Henrik Christiansen, Mikael Flygind-Larsen	NOR	3:39.55 NR
2	Enrico Fabris, Matteo Anesi, Luca Stefani	ITA	3:39.72 NR
3	Denny Morrison, Marcel Giroux, Lucas Makowsky	CAN	3:40.34