ISU

On March 22, 2018 the International Skating Union signed a proclamation of support and affinity for Special Olympics and all its Skaters whose extraordinary courage represents the true spirit of sportsmanship.

On March 23 at 18:00 CET the Annual Ice Dance meeting will be live streamed.

Miho Takagi (JPN) carried home the Grand World Cup in style. The fresh Japanese World Allround Champion won the 1500m at the final in Minsk to conclude an outstanding season on Sunday.

Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR) finished the season on top in the Grand World Cup rankings on Sunday. He became the first Norwegian skater to take the overall victory since the inauguration of the Grand World Cup in the 2011/12 season, but the Olympic 500m champion again had to bow his head for a Dutch podium sweep in the shortest distance on Sunday.

Hein Otterspeer (NED) and Kjeld Nuis (NED) won the 500m and the 1000m at the World Cup final in Minsk, but Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR) secured the Grand World Cup taking an unassailable lead in the ranking on Saturday.

Antoinette de Jong (NED) has ended the eleven-year reign of Martina Sáblíková (CZE) in the ladies’ long distance World Cup winning the day’s race and the classification at the final in Minsk on Saturday.

Heading into the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Final in Minsk (BLR), Grand World Cup leaders Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR) and Miho Takagi (JPN) hope to cash in on a prolific season. The ISU World Sprint Speed Skating Champion and the ISU World Allround Speed Skating Champion spearheaded Norway and Japan, who definitely joined the Netherlands as major power houses in Speed Skating this year.

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.

Joy Beune (NED) and Allan Dahl Johansson (NOR) were crowned World Junior Allround Champions in Salt Lake City on Sunday.

Sverre Lunde Pedersen was 3500 meters away from taking the first Norwegian ISU World Allround Speed Skating title since Johann Olav Koss in 1994, but did not manage to bring it home after a bizarre crash and Patrick Roest (NED) ran away with the title.

Miho Takagi (JPN) grabbed the first ever Japanese World Allround Speed Skating title in the lions’ den on Saturday. The 23-year-old Olympic Team Pursuit Champion held off defending champion Ireen Wüst (NED) on the artificial ice rink, which was specially built for the ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Stadium.

 The men’s event at the ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships in a rainy but atmospheric Amsterdam Olympic Stadium, has become a clash of generations after the first two distances. 22-year-old Patrick Roest (NED) and 25-year-old Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR) are on top of the rankings after winning the 500m and the 5000m respectively.

Miho Takagi (JPN) started the ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships with a blast in the 500m, to take a big advantage over defending champion Ireen Wüst (NED) on the first day of the Championships on the outdoor track in the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium on Friday. Wüst fought back in the 3000m and has not given up on the title just yet. Antoinette de Jong (NED) is third after two distances.

In 1893 the first ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships took place on the Museum Square in Amsterdam (NED). Exactly 125 years later the prestigious Championships return to Amsterdam and will be held outdoors for the first time since 2001.

This year’s ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships will be held at the superfast high-altitude Utah Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City. The skaters have had enough time to familiarize with the track, because the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating final was held on the same oval last week. In the ladies’ World Junior Championships Jutta Leerdam (NED) will defend her Allround title and in the men’s tournament Chris Huizinga’s Allround title is up for grabs since the Dutchman went to the senior ranks after last season.