Vanessa Herzog (AUT) skated another impeccable 500m to take her second gold medal of the weekend in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland, on Saturday, while Miho Takagi (JPN) clinched her first World Cup 1500m gold of the season.
Herzog wins another 500m gold
Herzog has won both 500m races in Tomaszów Mazowiecki this weekend © International Skating Union (ISU)
Vanessa Herzog (AUT) claimed her second successive 500m victory as she shaved another 0.03 seconds off the track record she had set on Friday. Skating against Brittany Bowe (USA), who had won Friday's 1000m, the Austrian stopped the clock at 37.94. Bowe trailed by 0.28 seconds to take the bronze medal while Olga Fatkulina (RUS) took a second straight silver in 38.10. Angelina Golikova (RUS) came fourth in 38.35 and Daria Kachanova (RUS), who won bronze on Friday, had to settle for fifth place in 38.45.
In the absence of Nao Kodaira (JPN), Herzog increased her lead at the top of the 500m World Cup ranking. With 336 points, she is 96 points ahead of the Japanese Olympic Champion, who is sixth after winning the first four races of the season.
"Kodaira will not catch me anymore because I will skate all races this season", she said.
Fatkulina is Herzog's closest rival for the 500m World Cup. The Russian is second with 272 points, while Bowe lies third with 257 points.
"I'm always happy to race against (Kodaira) when she's there, but if she's not present, I'm also happy to win," Herzog said.
"I have to improve my start. She's almost two tenths faster in the opener, but my full lap is about the same. That's the thing I have to improve this season, or maybe next season."
Olympic revenge for Takagi (JPN) in 1500m
Miho Takagi beat Olympic Champion Ireen Wüst by 0.89 seconds © International Skating Union (ISU)
Miho Takagi (JPN) won all four of the 1500m races she skated in the last World Cup season, but this season she has had to settle for silver in the first two races of the World Cup series. In Tomaszów Mazowiecki on Saturday, she was back on top again.
In a battle with Olympic Champion Ireen Wüst (NED), who had won the 1500m in Tomakomai two weeks ago, the Olympic silver medalist started cautiously, trailing her pair-mate by 0.46 seconds at the 700m split.
But in the second half of the race Takagi managed to maintain her speed better than Wüst and she stopped the clock at 1:57.32. Wüst crossed the line 0.89 seconds later to take silver. Brittany Bowe came third in 1:58.25.
Takagi took over the World Cup lead from Bowe, who had won the first 1500m of the season in Obihiro. The Japanese skater has collected 168 points in three races. Wüst is second with 157 points and Bowe lies third with 156 points.
For full results go here. Follow the discussion on social media by using #WCSpeed #SpeedSkating.
