Calgary, Canada

 #SpeedSkating

Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) won her first World Cup gold in a classical distance after beating home skater Isabelle Weidemann (CAN) in an exciting head-to-head. Martina Sáblíková (CZE) took bronze after a close battle with Ragne Wiklund (NOR). Earlier on Friday, Russia’s Olga Fatkulina (RUS) kicked off the fourth World Cup weekend of the season in Calgary with a personal best and her first individual World Cup gold since November 2019.

Lollobrigida and Weidemann push each other to new level

With Irene Schouten (NED) absent, the 3000m field was wide open. The endurance machine, who had won the first two 3000m races as well as the 5000m in Stavanger, chose not to travel to Calgary in order to prepare for the Dutch Olympic trials in December.

Lollobrigida took full advantage, winning her first World Cup gold in the 3000m having won multiple Mass Start medals over the past seven years. 

Lollobrigida

Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) © International Skating Union (ISU)

“I had a good pair, but for the first time in my life I just skated by myself. Normally I follow someone, just keep there and chase,” Lollobrigida explained.

Weidemann followed suit and thought she could reel her in towards the end. 

“I thought that I had her (with) two laps to go and she just came back so hard,” Weidemann said. 

Lollobrigida countered the attack to finish in a personal best of three minutes and 54.44 seconds. 

“(Going into) the last corner, my coach (Maurizio) Marchetto (ITA) said ‘you can win’. So I was like, ‘okay, I can win’,” she laughed.

Weidemann also set a personal best, taking silver in 3:55.33. Battling each other in a strong pair had raised both skaters’ level.

Weidemann

Isabelle Weidemann (CAN) © International Skating Union (ISU)

“Absolutely,” Weidemann said. “We both got personal bests today and I think the ice is a little bit slower here than it was in Salt Lake. So yeah, I think we push each other quite well.

“I like to race alone though I’m not going to lie, having my own lane and working on my own things, but it's always fun to race her.”

Two laps too long for Wiklund 

In the pair before Lollobrigida and Weidemann, Ragne Wiklund started on track-record pace in the sixth pair versus Martina Sáblíková.

“When I saw Ragne go so fast, I just said to myself ‘ok, you should stay at your own level and try to do your best’, and then I had little power in the end,” Sáblíková said. 

Wiklund was not able to keep up her sub-31 lap-times towards the end while Sáblíková managed to maintain her pace.

The 34-year old Czech veteran eventually managed to pip Wiklund to the line, finishing in 3:55.52, versus 3:55.69 for Wiklund, who came in fourth. 

Sáblíková was happy with her first World Cup podium this season. 

“It’s been strange (the season until now),” she said. “I had health problems in the last month. Now, it was better than in Stavanger and Tomaszów (Mazowiecki, Poland) and last week in Salt Lake City. 

“Today was the best 3000m this season for me, 3:55 is a great time for me and I’m getting faster and faster so I’m happy with it.”

Due to Schouten’s absence, Weidemann took the lead in the long distance World Cup, with Wiklund following in second and Schouten in third.

Fast opener and personal best for Fatkulina 

Olga Fatkulina (RUS) skated a personal best of 36.72s to win the Women’s 500m. The key to victory had been the 10.4 opener, which she had never skated before.

“After the corner (entering the backstretch) my coach told me ‘10.4s’. I was happy and it gave me a boost carrying on towards the finish,” Fatkulina said.

Fatkulina was happy to win but downplayed the importance. 

Fatkulina

Olga Fatkulina (RUS) © International Skating Union (ISU)

“In an Olympic season a World Cup win doesn’t matter,” she said.

Nao Kodaira (JPN) took silver in 36.81s. The reigning Olympic Champion had been struggling with her opener the whole season and Friday’s race was no different.

“My opener was not good,” Kodaira commented. “I was too prudent, not eager enough in the first 200m but the last 300m was ok.”

Angelina Golikova (RUS) claimed bronze in 36.82 and retained second place in the World Cup ranking behind Erin Jackson (USA). The winner of the first three World Cup races this season, came in fifth in 37.16s.

500m Women 

ISU World Cup Speed Skating Standings 500m Women

3000m Women 

ISU World Cup Speed Skating Standings 3000m Women

The event entry quotas for the individual distances will be determined by the Special Olympic Qualification Classification (SOQC) based on results from the different ISU World Cup Speed Skating Competitions and the full details are available in ISU Communication 2405.

For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series please visit: isu.org/speed-skating. Results are here and you can follow the discussion on social media by using #SpeedSkating.

Where to Watch

Viewers will be able to watch either via their national broadcaster / channel and for countries where there are no broadcasters, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. You will find the full list in the Where to Watch news here

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Highlights, clips, interviews, behind the scenes:

YouTube: ISU Skating

IG: @isuspeedskating

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Twitter: @ISU_Speed

Follow the conversation with #SpeedSkating.

For further information on ISU Speed Skating visit https://www.isu.org/speed-skating

ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series 2021/22:

Tomaszów Mazowiecki (POL) – Nov 12 – 14, 2021

Stavanger (NOR) - Nov 19 - Nov 21, 2021

Salt Lake City (USA) - Dec 03 - Dec 05, 2021 

Calgary (CAN) – Dec 10 - Dec 12, 2021

Final – Heerenveen (NED) – Mar 12 - Mar 13, 2022 

About ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series

The ISU World Cup Speed Skating is a Series of international Speed Skating competitions which takes place annually. The Series started in 1984 and usually consists of six or seven Events including the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Final. However during the Olympic season the Series consists of five Events.

Skaters can earn points at each competition, and the Skater who has the most points on a given distance at the end of the Series is the World Cup winner of that distance. The World Cup Competitions held from November to December serve as qualifying events for entry quotas at the ISU European, World Single Distances, World Sprint and World Allround Speed Skating Championships and during the Olympic season they are Olympic Qualifying Events. A number of World Cup titles are awarded every season; For Men: 500m, 1000m, 1500m, combined 5000m / 10,000m, Mass Start, Team Pursuit and Team Sprint. For Women 500m, 1000m, 1500m, the combined 3000m / 5000m, Mass Start, Team Pursuit and Team Sprint. For further information please visit isu.org/WorldCupSpeedSkating.