Hamar, Norway

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 #SpeedSkating

Jutta Leerdam (NED) was in a league of her own on the first day of the women’s European Sprint Championships in Hamar, Norway. After coming second in the 500m, the defending champion crushed the field in the 1000m to take a 0.590-point lead over Femke Kok (NED) at the halfway point. Austrian Vanessa Herzog follows in third place, 1.750 points behind the leader.

Kok draws first blood in 500m

When Kok (NED) and Leerdam (NED) took the ice in the ninth pairing of the women’s 500m, no one had yet broken the 38-second barrier. Kok set the fastest opener of the field in 10.41s, but although Leerdam almost caught up with the fastest full lap in 27.05s, at the finish line Kok still held an 0.06s advantage over her compatriot to finish in 37.55s.

 Femke Kok NED

Femke Kok (NED) took a narrow win over teammate Jetta Leerdam in the 500m at the European Sprint Championships. @ISU

Despite posting the fastest full lap, Leerdam was not content with her performance at the shortest distance.

“I had a very good opener, and then I feel like I owe it to myself to skate the fastest lap too,” she said. “The full lap is my thing and compared to today’s opener it was just not good enough.”

Herzog (AUT) edged out Marrit Fledderus (NED) by 0.05 seconds in the final pairing to prevent an all-Dutch podium, but failed to join Kok and Leerdam inside 38 seconds, clocking 38.15s.

The Austrian was happy to even compete in Hamar because she had only just recovered from a bout of the 'flu.

Vanessa Herzog AUT

Vanessa Herzog (AUT) recovered from illness to take third and prevent a Dutch 1-2-3 in the 500m. @ISU

“I was super-sick after I returned from Canada [the Calgary World Cup events in December]. I still don’t feel super-strong so I’m glad to show this today,” she explained.

Leerdam over a second faster in 1000m

Heading into the 1000m, Kok was defending a 0.12s gap against Leerdam, with Herzog and Fledderus in third and fourth place trailing by 1.20s and 1.30s respectively.

Finishing in a time of 1 minute and 14.38s, Leerdam was more than a second faster than the rest of the field in the double distance. Kok came second in 1:15.69s, in turn over a second faster than next skater Herzog, who clocked 1:16.80 to hold onto third place.

Jutta Leerdam NED

Jutta Leerdam (NED) dominated the 1000m, winning by more than a second to take a comfortable lead into Day 2. @ISU

Heading into the final day and another race at each distance, Leerdam has a 0.590-point margin over Kok which equates to 0.59s in the 500m. The World Sprint Champion, who beat Kok and Herzog to the title at this same Vikingskipet venue in March 2022, vowed not to take it easy on Saturday.

“Even though I have such a gap, I’m not going to hold back,” Leerdam said.

“I want to test myself time and again. What can I do to be just that little bit faster again? And maybe I can do something else, coming in a bit more relaxed.”

Kok admitted that beating Leerdam might not be a very realistic goal for Saturday, but she did not want to throw the towel.

“A championships is four distances, anything can happen and everyone can make a mistake,” she said. “I’m still aiming at the title. I don’t think I’ll take it, but I’m not giving up just yet.”

Herzog, 1.75s behind Kok going into Saturday’s opening 500m, is aiming at the bronze medal. The Austrian will defend a 0.36s gap over fourth-ranked Fledderus on the second day.

Format and schedule

The Sprint Championships are held on Friday and Saturday with a 500m and a 1000m for both genders on each day. The Allround Championships are scheduled on Saturday and Sunday. The men will skate the 500m and the 5000m on the first day, followed by the 1500m and the 10,000m on the second. The women face the 500m and the 3000m on Saturday, followed by the 1500m and 5000m on Sunday.

In both the Sprint and the Allround tournaments the final ranking is based on the so-called samalog score over four distances. The samalog system converts times into points, with the 500m as starting point. For a 500m race, the number of seconds counts as the number of points. For the 1000m the number of seconds is divided by two to calculate the number of points; for the 1500m it’s divided by three, for the 3000m by six, for the 5000m by ten and for the 10,000m by twenty.

For all information about the ISU European Speed Skating Championships, please visit the webpage here.

Where to watch

Viewers will be able to watch the ISU European Speed Skating Championships (local time) via their national broadcaster/channel.

For countries where there are no broadcasters, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. You will find the full list on the Where to watch webpage here.