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After clinching her career first World Cup victory in Saturday’s 500m in Erfurt, Vanessa Herzog (AUT) struck gold again in Sunday’s 1000m, clocking one minute 15.26 seconds. Hege Bøkko (NOR) came second in 1:15.52, and Yekaterina Shikhova (RUS) finished third in 1:16.06.
Herzog suffered from a bad cough in the run-up to the Erfurt World Cup, but she still left with with one silver and two gold medals. On Friday, when she took silver in the first 500m before skipping the 1000m, she had been struggling, but she got better day by day.
“I could very well get used to winning,” she said with a big smile after Sunday’s gold.
“But I know it’s not always like this. Today it was very good and I felt I was faster than Friday.”
Herzog will skate the 500m, the 1000m and the Mass Start at the Olympic Games in PyeongChang next month.
“Actually the 1000m used to be my favorite distance, but at the moment I would say it’s about equal. I’m equally fast over both distances. If I had to choose? Maybe I like the 500m a little bit better because it hurts less in the legs. The Mass Start is just fun to do.”
Shikhova climbed to the top of the 1000m World Cup ranking, surpassing absent Nao Kodaira (JPN) with 340 points. Kodaira is second with 305 points and Herzog third with 296 points.
Full results and classifications. Follow the discussion on social media by using #WCSpeed and #SpeedSkating and watch the live stream on the ISU Skating Channel.