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Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) wrapped up the best World Cup weekend of her career by sprinting to gold in the Women’s Mass Start in Calgary on Sunday while Brittany Bowe (USA) made amends in the 1500m by a 0.01s margin after finishing second by 0.03s in Saturday’s 1000m.
Lollobrigida takes second gold
Lollobrigida won the Mass Start, beating Ivanie Blondin (CAN) in the final sprint.
“It's the first time that I'm winning in the sprint in the Mass Start. Last time I won in the breakaway,” she said after an exhausting final day of competition. “It's just like a dream.”
Elizaveta Golubeva (RUS), Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) and Ivanie Blondin (CAN) © International Skating Union (ISU)
The 30-year-old Italian, who collected her first medal in a classical distance by winning the 3000m on Friday, had to start in three races on Sunday.
“Today was really hard,’ she said. “We had the heats and then the 1500m and then less than an hour later the Mass Start final. It was crazy.”
Despite having spent energy in the two previous races, Lollobrigida decided not to sit back in the Mass Start final.
“My idea was not to let anybody in the breakaway. In the beginning I chased a German and a Dutch (escapee) but I was alone (without a teammate in the race), so when the Japanese (Rin Kosaka) went in front I said to myself ‘if I try to follow, I’m gonna break my legs’.
“So I just let the others lead because I knew that Ivanie (Blondin) had a teammate and that she wanted to win because we skate in Calgary. In the end, I wanted to be smart.”
Kosaka skated solo almost three quarters of a lap ahead of the pack going into the last five laps, when the peloton finally picked up pace.
Valérie Maltais (CAN) went for points in the final intermediate sprint and the pack quickly closed in on Kosaka.
Blondin, who took silver in the sprint, agreed that Lollobrigida had deployed the best strategy.
Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA), second left, © International Skating Union (ISU)
“Strategically, she (Lollobrigida) just had a better race than I did. I was kind of put out in the front and it was just a little bit too early to start the sprint.
“Of course I'm always gunning for the gold but I'm happy for Lollo (Lollobrigida), she had a beautiful race.
“She got me on the backstretch and I just didn't have the legs today. I think that’s normal at this point after such a long weekend and so many weekends of racing.”
Elizaveta Golubeva (RUS) took bronze behind Lollobrigida and Blondin, who did not have any regrets.
“I feel happy to be on the podium and happy to share it with Lollo and also Elizaveta, who I got to know better this week,” said Blondin. “She's such a sweet girl. It's always nice to share the podium with girls who are very nice.”
Blondin retained the lead in the World Cup ranking with Lollobrigida climbing up to second and absent Irene Schouten (NED) dropping from second to sixth.
Bowe holds off Japanese rivals
Brittany Bowe (USA) kept the Japanese competition at bay in the 1500m.
In the absence of World Cup leader Miho Takagi (JPN), who had chosen to skate the 500m and the 3000m in preparation for the Japanese Olympic trials, her sister Nana Takagi set a high bar of one minute and 52.06 seconds in the fourth pair.
Bowe was the only one who managed to beat it, albeit by the smallest possible margin, clocking 1:52.05.
“I don't feel bad taking that one after losing by a hair yesterday,” she said.
“After seeing Nana’s time I just put it in my mind I was gonna go for it.”
Brittany Bowe (USA) © International Skating Union (ISU)
Coming from the sprint side, Bowe went out at staggering pace, hoping to hold on to the end.
“Obviously that third lap is a struggle for me but I didn't want to have any regrets at the end of the race and the first lap of 26.9s, that felt really good. (The) second lap was strong and that last lap I just had to hang on and chase that backstretch and (I) did everything I could to get to the finish line.”
Bowe was not surprised by Takagi’s time.
“It was fast but it didn't surprise me because if you watch her throughout this whole season, every race has gotten better and better. It was a great time to light a fire within me today for sure.”
Ayano Sato (JPN) took bronze in 1:52.19, showing the depth of Japanese Women’s Speed Skating.
“It’s incredible,” Bowe said.
“The level of competition on the female side is higher than it's ever been depth wise. What you'll continue to see as the year goes on, some really competitive races and something great to happen in Beijing.”
Takagi was happy to take her first medal in a classic distance having won Mass Start and Team Pursuit silverware.
“I trained really hard for the Mass Start and the Team Pursuit and to do that I also focused on the individual distances. Now I eat the fruits of my labor,” she said.
Sato celebrated her finest World Cup with a big smile and said: “I’m very happy because I got two races and two medals. This weekend is my best World Cup ever and I also had medals in the second and the third World Cup.
“That came as a big surprise for me. I’ve got the strength and the technique and I’m very proud of my results.”
1500m Women
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Standings 1500m Women
3000m Women
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Standings 3000m Women
Mass Start Women
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Standings Mass Start 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.
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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.
