ISU

Don’t miss any of the action from the season’s thrilling races from the Heerenveen Speed Skating Hub, which will be streamed live to all fans on the ISU Skating YouTube page. Make sure you subscribe to the channel to receive live stream notifications. Some geo-restrictions will apply on YouTube, but if you find yourself unable to watch the stream, check out one of the channels indicated here to get access.

After an extraordinary period of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020/21 Short Track season will finally get underway in Gdańsk, Poland this weekend, with the ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships taking place from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 January.

The ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships begin Friday, January 22, 2021 in Gdansk, Poland. Don’t miss any of the action as the Skaters get back on the ice for this season’s thrilling races, which will be streamed live to all fans on the ISU Skating YouTube. 

Have a look at the selection of some of the top pictures of the ISU European Speed Skating Championships that took place this weekend. It was the first event in the Hub of Heerenveen. Stay tuned for the next ones. 

What a difference a day makes for Jutta Leerdam (NED). On Saturday she grumbled about doing everything wrong; on Sunday she found redemption and beat Angelina Golikova (RUS) for the Ladies’ Sprint title at the ISU European Speed Skating Championships in Thialf, Heerenveen. Thomas Krol (NED) cashed in on his first-day advantage to take the Men’s Sprint title.

Antoinette de Jong (NED) overcame her doubts after a disappointing first day in Heerenveen to win the Allround title at the ISU European Speed Skating Championships. The defending champion proved to be the Ladies’ field’s most complete speed skater, ahead of silver medalist Irene Schouten (NED) and Martina Sáblíková (CZE), who took bronze to claim a record 12th podium spot in the European Allround Championships. In the Men’s field Patrick Roest added a career-first European Allround title to his three World Allround victories.

Kai Verbij (NED) blew his chance to take a third consecutive European Sprint title crashing fifty meters into his first 500m race on Saturday. The defending champion left the field wide open and his good friend and teammate Thomas Krol (NED) stepped up to the occasion taking the lead after the first day of the Men’s sprint championships on Saturday. Angelina Golikova leads the Ladies’ Sprint tournament after winning the 500m and coming fourth in the 1000m.

Antoinette de Jong and Patrick Roest lead the Allround classifications after the first day of the ISU European Speed Skating Championships on home ice at Thialf on Saturday. Three-time World Allround Champion Roest seems to be cruising towards his career-first European Allround championship, but De Jong faces a tough battle in defense of her 2019 title. With a Championship record in the 3000m, Irene Schouten kept the pressure on her compatriot for a thrilling climax on the second day.

Estonia might be a small country in Norther Europe with a population of just 1.3 million people, which is about half of the population of Paris, but it has a rich tradition in Figure Skating. Estonian skaters have competed internationally ever since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The ISU Council, in consultation with the Japan Skating Federation, decided to cancel the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships 2021 in Hachinohe City, JPN, planned on February 19-21, 2021.

It will be different in many respects, but the first international Speed Skating event of the Heerenveen Hub is bound to be spectacular. For the first time since 2005 both Sven Kramer and Ireen Wüst (NED) will not be present at the ISU European Allround Speed Skating Championships. The multiple champions leave the field wide open to eager youngsters, while Kai Verbij (NED) and Vanessa Herzog (AUT) will face tough competition in defense of their ISU European Sprint Speed Skating Championships title.

Four events in five weeks. The pre-Olympic Speed Skating season has been cut short, but the hub-concept in Heerenveen will provide the Skaters as well as fans with spectacular action. The ISU has been, and still is very cautious regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the hub in the Netherlands, a competition Bubble with different levels are set up to guarantee the safety of everyone involved. Fans are not allowed in the stadium, but the spectacle on the ice will be widely available on television and live streams.

Don’t miss any of the action from the season’s thrilling races from the Heerenveen Speed Skating Hub, which will be streamed live to all fans on the ISU Skating YouTube page. Make sure you subscribe to the channel to receive live stream notifications. Some geo-restrictions will apply on YouTube, but if you find yourself unable to watch the stream, check out one of the channels indicated here to get access.

2020 has been a very tough year as almost everybody has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in one or way or another, directly or indirectly. Athletes were unable to train and to compete and some contracted the virus. However, not everything connected to 2020 is negative and the Skaters are happy to share their #OneGoodThing – on the ice and off the ice.

As a challenging 2020 draws to a close the world’s Short Track Speed Skating stars can look back on a year that offered a chance to deviate from just training and competing – be it fixing that little technical detail, finishing a box set of movies or spending extra time with the family – to come back stronger for 2021.