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 #SpeedSkating

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Jordan Stolz, 18, of the United States blows away an experienced field to win 1500m gold. @ ISU

The Team USA men got off the blocks fast at the start of the new international speed skating season at the Sørmarka Arena in Stavanger (NOR) on Friday. At age 18, Jordan Stolz (USA) took his first ISU World Cup win in spectacular fashion, clocking a new track record in 1 minute and 44.89s to leave the rest of the field behind. In the Team Pursuit. Ethan Cepuran, Casey Dawson and Emery Lehman (USA) took revenge to missing out on the Olympic final last February, beating Beijing 2022 champions Norway on home ice. 

Stolz crushes field in 1500m

Stolz came, saw and conquered. After having qualified for all World Cup distances at the US championships in October, the Wisconsin prodigy brought his stellar form to Norway. Before Stolz took the ice in the sixth of ten A Division pairings, no one had managed to beat the 1:46.43 Sander Eitrem (NOR) had set in the B Division earlier.

Stolz beat that time by 1.46s, beating the track record of 1:44.94 set by Denis Yuskov (RUS) in 2016. None of the eight remaining skaters managed to even beat Eitrem’s time, let alone Stolz’. Canadian Connor Howe (CAN) took silver in 1:46.65 and Ning Zhongyan (CHN) bronze in 1:46.68.

The difference between Stolz and the rest of the field was his exceptional second full lap. Some 1500m skaters start really fast and struggle towards the end, others start cautiously in order to finish faster, but only Stolz managed to do both in Stavanger. He skated the first full lap in 26.0s, the second in 26.8 and the last in 28.6. And while Howe was faster in the first full lap (25.7), he couldn’t keep up the pace, with nobody else even able to skate the second full lap under 27 seconds.

With Stolz (18), Howe (22) and Ning (23), a new generation of youngsters has emerged in the 1500m, which had been dominated by the rivalry between Dutchmen Kjeld Nuis and Thomas Krol over the past couple of years. In Stavanger Olympic champion Nuis was absent due to injury, and Beijing silver medalist Krol bit the dust in a disappointing 1:48.37 for 16th place.

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Olympic 1500m silver medalist Thomas Krol (NED) could only manage a disappointing 16th place. @ ISU

Stolz was as cool and collected as his performance was spectacular, saying: “I didn't really have any expectations for the 1500m. I just went out here to do a good race. I had no idea what the time would be. I felt strong and good. 

“I'd like to think that my fitness is pretty good. I wouldn't say it's better than everyone. I don't know what's going to happen at the end of the season, people can still get stronger. By right now. I think I'd say I'm one of the most fit.

“I feel like I built up a pretty good base. I’m just going to try and put that into the races now, which you can't really tell where it's going to go: if [I’m] going to be continuing to do all [distances] around all season, or if it's just going to be the 500m and the 1000m near the end.”

Team USA’s six-legged machine beats Olympic champions at home 

In the men’s Team Pursuit, the home crowd looked out for Olympic Champions Norway to take on Beijing bronze medalists USA in the final pairing. When they took the ice, the Netherlands had set the fastest time so far in 3 minutes and 44.61s.

Both Norway and USA were faster in their intermediate times throughout most of the race, but Dutch Marcel Bosker, Patrick Roest and Beau Snellink had finished strongly. Norway wasn’t able to keep up with the Dutch pace in the final lap, unlike USA, with Cepuran up front, Dawson in second and Lehman bringing up the rear. They finished in 3:44.01 to take gold, while Norway’s Peder Kongshaug,  Hallgeir Engebråten and veteran Sverre Lunde Pedersen had to settle for bronze in 3:45.42.

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After falling short in Beijing, USA turn bronze into gold in the Men's Team Pursuit @ ISU

For USA, it was redemption after missing out on the Olympic final last year. Cepuran said: “That was definitely fresh in our minds. You walk into the arena, it's there on the poster, gold medals. And obviously, last season, our goal was to win gold in Beijing, and we came up in bronze. We were definitely motivated coming in today's race.” 

Dawson emphasized their strength as a team: “Even though we all might not be feeling the best in our individual races, we can still skate a solid Team Pursuit together, because of our technique and the unity we have as a team.”

For all information about the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series, please visit the webpage here.

 

World Cup Standings - Men

Men 500m

Men 1000m

Men 1500m

Long Distances

Mass Start

Team Pursuit

World Cup Standings - Women

Women 500m

Women 1000m

Women 1500m

Long Distances

Mass Start

Team Pursuit

 

Where to watch

Viewers will be able to watch the World Cup sessions (local time) via their national broadcaster/channel.

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 on the Where to watch webpage here.

 

ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series events 2022/23:

Nov 11 - 13, 2022                     Stavanger /NOR 

Nov 18 - 20, 2022                     Heerenveen/ NED

Dec 09 - 11, 2022                     Calgary /CAN

Dec 16 - 18, 2022                     Calgary /CAN

Feb 10 - 12, 2023                      Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL

Feb 17 - 19, 2023                      World Cup Final - Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL 

 

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 1985 and usually consists of six or seven events including the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Final. The events take place across North America, Europe and Asia.

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 particular distance.

The results from the World Cup competitions in the first part of the season are the main qualifying method for the ISU Speed Skating Championships and also for the Olympic Winter Games.

A number of World Cup titles are awarded every season, for Men: 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, combined 5000 m / 10000 m, Team Pursuit, Mass Start and Team Sprint. For Women 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, the combined 3000 m / 5000 m,  Team Pursuit, Mass Start and Team Sprint. For further information please visit isu.org.