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ISU

All Interviews

He's a triple Speed Skating World Champion, a double European Champion and a multiple World Cup winner, but the first time Denis Yuskov put on skates as a kid, he abominated the sport. This season the 1500m World Record holder has set his sights on the World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in Inzell.

Jan 31, 2019

He was an undisputed champion in the junior ranks, but it took him a while to reach the very top as a senior.

Jan 22, 2019

Pavel Kulizhnikov is the fastest man on skates. In 2015 he beat the 500m World Record in Salt Lake City (USA) in 33.98 seconds. To this date no one else managed to skate the 500m under 34 seconds. The 24-year-old Russian began Speed Skating when he was 12 years old and his talent for the sport was evident from the start. "I appeared to make progress way faster than most other kids", he says.

Jan 16, 2019

She's won the overall Mass Start World Cup twice, she's European Mass Start champion and she participated in two Olympic Games, but as a native from Rome Francesca Lollobrigida still is an anomaly in the Speed Skating world.

Jan 07, 2019

Sports is all about competition, but even the fiercest sporting rivalries often lead to close friendships too. Here's the story of Korean Sang-Hwa Lee and Japanese Nao Kodaira, enemies on the ice, but friends in real life.

Jul 30, 2018

As the only lady to win two gold medals in Speed Skating at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Nana Takagi was crowned Queen of the Gangneung Oval. The older of the successful Takagi-sisters won the Mass Start gold, which made its Olympic debut in PyeongChang on February 24. Just three days before, she had won the Team Pursuit title together with sister Miho, Ayano Sato and Ayaka Kikuchi.

Mar 14, 2018

From a phone call in early 2017 to an Olympic title in February 2018. Carlijn Achtereekte’s (NED) 3000m gold was unexpected, but the Dutch skater had a plan and stuck to it. After having swapped from team to team for several years, Achtereekte felt that she had never lived up to her real potential and she decided to call Jac Orie (NED), coach of the successful trade team of, among others, Sven Kramer (NED). 

Feb 11, 2018

“I literally owe my life to speed skating,” says Laurent Dubreuil. Both his father and mother were Olympic speed skaters back in 1988 and 1992.

Jan 26, 2018

“When I was only a few months old, my mother already took me on a horseback.” Antoinette de Jong smiles when she’s talking about horses. Had she not become an Olympic Speed Skater, she would definitely have pursued an Olympic career in equestrian events.

Jan 17, 2018

Norwegian speed skating enjoys a resurgence. Håvard Lorentzen and Sverre Lunde Pedersen already won World Cup races in the fresh Olympic season and Sindre Henriksen took his first podium with bronze in de 1500m in Stavanger.

Jan 03, 2018

The Japanese ladies ruled with six out of eight gold medals at the opening leg of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating season in Heerenveen.

Nov 16, 2017

We sat down with active speed skating legend, Shani Davis (USA) for an in depth interview touching upon the upcoming Winter Olympics, his current form and coaching other skaters among other topics

Jun 16, 2017

The ISU spoke with Hege Bøkko & Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen from Norway to find out more about them and their sporting career.

Mar 03, 2017

Top sport life has not always been easy for Polish Natalia Czerwonka. The 28-year-old silver 2014 Olympic medalist suffered a head injury and a broken vertebra after a collision with a tractor, while training on the bike in August 2014. We took the opportunity to talk to her in Heerenveen last December. Her passion for speed skating is still unbroken.

Feb 09, 2017

We took the opportunity to talk to Mika Poutala (FIN) before the ISU European Speed Skating Championships and this is what he shared about his past, present and future.

Jan 09, 2017