Erfurt / Germany

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Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR) took his third 500m World Cup win of the season clocking 34.85 seconds in Erfurt on Sunday. Jan Smeekens (NED) came second in 34.95 and Alex Boisvert-Lacroix (CAN) took bronze in 35.00.

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World Cup leader Lorentzen clinched gold medals over the distance in Heerenveen and Stavanger in November. In the first of the two 500m races in Erfurt he came fourth in 35.10 on Friday. 

He was also fourth in Saturday’s 1000m, before finishing his Erfurt campaign with a silver in the second 1000m later on Sunday.

 “My first two races were a little bit off, but after today I felt very good,” he said after his two  podiums on Sunday.

 The Norwegian strengthened his lead in the 500m World Cup. 

 "That’s important to me. To win the overall World Cup means that you’re the most consistent skater in the whole season.”

 But the Olympic Games in PyeongChang next month are Lorentzen’s main target.

 “I feel like this level is good enough for an Olympic medal, but I think I can still improve a little bit,” he said.

 Smeekens did not skate on Friday due to illness. The Dutch World Champion was happy to be back on the ice. 

“I did not suffer from a super-high fever, I think it was a just a little stomach flu or something,” he said. “I got back to the ice yesterday and I’m happy to be able to race today. 

“I wanted to skate one more international race before the Olympic Games. That’s good for the rhythm.

“This was a good solid race, although I came close to the markers too early in the last inner corner. But I’m happy with the first 100m in 9.66.”

With his bronze medal Boisvert-Lacroix climbed to second place in the World Cup standings with 428 points. Lorentzen has 536 points, while Ronald Mulder (NED), who did not skate in Erfurt, is third with 416 points. 

Full results and classifications. Follow the discussion on social media by using #WCSpeed and #SpeedSkating and watch the live stream on the ISU Skating Channel.