ISU

Miho Takagi (JPN) beat the rest of the field nearly a second and a half in the Women's 1500m on Sunday, the final day of the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Salt Lake City. With a time of 1 minute and 49.99 seconds, the indomitable Takagi came just 0.16s shy of her own world record, in only the second sub 1.50 race in history. In the Women's Mass Start, Sofie Karoline Haugen (NOR) took her first World Cup medal, with a well deserved bronze after an exhausting attack. The pack caught up with her in extremis, but only Ivanie Blondin (CAN) and Marijke Groenewoud (NED) managed to pass the Norwegian, seizing gold and silver respectively.

Joey Mantia (USA) lived up to his own and the enthusiastic home crowd’s expectations, winning the Men’s 1500m on the second day of the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Salt Lake City. Having emptied the tank in the King’s Race, Mantia did not factor in the Mass Start final on Saturday. Bart Swings (BEL) grabbed his career fifth Mass Start win in the World Cup, cashing in on a clever and powerful attack with six laps to go.

Miho Takagi (JPN) left the Utah Olympic Oval Saturday with mixed feelings. The Japanese all-arounder won the 1000m in 1 minute and 11.83 seconds, only 0.22s short of Brittany Bowe’s (USA) world record. Later in the afternoon Takagi seemed to be on track for another gold in the Women's Team Pursuit, but her sister, Nana Takagi, crashed in the final lap and Canada ran away with its second Team Pursuit win of the season. Andzelika Wójcik (POL) kicked off Saturday’s competition with a career first World Cup win and a national record in the Women's 500m.

Nils van der Poel still doesn’t cease to surprise the international speed skating world. The Swedish endurance machine broke another world record winning the 5000m on the first day of the ISU World Cup in Salt Lake City on Friday. Japan dominated the Men’s 500m, with Yamato Matsui and Wataru Morishige taking gold an silver ahead of World Cup leader Laurent Dubreuil (CAN). 

After starting the season with three World Cup wins in four 500m races in Europe, Erin Jackson (USA) continued her winning ways on home ice at the third World Cup event in Salt Lake City on Friday. Irene Schouten (NED) extended her winning streak in the long distance World Cup with gold in the Women's 3000m.

Following the European legs of the 2021/22 ISU World Cup Speed Skating season in Tomaszów Mazowiecki (POL) and Stavanger (NOR), the series moves to the fast North American high-altitude ice at the Utah and Calgary Olympic Ovals. US skater Joey Mantia is relishing the prospect of this weekend’s third leg in Salt Lake City. “That's where I really want to shine,” he said after taking 1500m silver in Stavanger.

The ISU was informed by the Japan Skating Federation (JSF) that the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2021, scheduled to take place from December 9 – 12, 2021 in Osaka (JPN) cannot be held as planned.

The International Skating Union is conducting a short survey to understand more about its fans.

Hungary's Shaoang Liu won his first World Cup race of the season in the final Men’s individual event in Dordrecht on Sunday to reassert himself as one of the medal favorites for the upcoming Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Korea's Choi Monjeong upset hot favorite Suzanne Schulting (NED) to claim a Women’s 1000m victory in the final World Cup event of the season in Dordrecht. Choi, the Olympic 1500m champion, went one better than her 1000m silver in Debrecen and left Schulting to settle for third.

Kamila Valieva of Russia crushed the competition at the ISU Grand Prix Rostelecom Cup Sochi on Saturday to win with 40 points to spare. She led the Russian women to another podium sweep with Elizaveta Tuktamysheva taking the silver medal and Maiia Khromykh the bronze.

ISU World Champions Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov struck gold in Sochi at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup Saturday and led the Russian Pairs to a podium sweep with Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin taking the silver and Iasmina Kadyrova/Ivan Balchenko earning the bronze medal.

China dominated the men's finals at the Dordrecht World Cup on Saturday as Wu Dajing and Ren Ziwei claimed comfortable victories in the 500m and 1500m to put their rivals on notice ahead of their home Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

Canada's Kim Boutin (500m) and Korea's Lee Yubin (1500m) claimed the two gold medals on offer in Saturday's Women's World Cup races in Dordrecht, denying pre-event favorite Suzanne Schulting (NED) another golden blitz on home ice.

ISU World Champions Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov of Russia danced to gold in Sochi and right into the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final at Rostelecom Cup on Saturday. Italy’s Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri earned the silver medal and assured their place in the Final as well. The bronze went to Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen of Canada.