#EuroSpeed #SpeedSkating
Ronald Mulder (NED) is the first ever European 500m Champion. Mika Poutala (FIN) and Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS) took silver and bronze at the ISU European Single Distance Championships in Kolomna on Friday.
Ronald Mulder (NED) took his first ever major international title. The Dutchman skated a near perfect race. Starting in the outer lane, he had the fastest opener of the field in 9.61. Coming from behind pair-mate Ruslan Murashov’s (RUS) back, Mulder managed to maintain his pace in a sharp final inner turn to finish in 34.80. Murashov set 35.28 to end up ninth.
Pavel Kulizhnikov opened in 9.70. The Russian world record holder was faster then Mulder in the full lap, but came 0.05 seconds short of gold.
Mika Poutala equaled Kulizhnikov’s 34.85 in the final pair, but the 34-year-old Finnish sprinter was four thousands of a second faster then Kulizhnikov to take the silver medal.