Being pain-free was all it took for Masaya Yamada (JPN) to join the World’s speed skating elite. Having recovered from an ankle injury that had hampered him over the past three years, he has started the ISU World Cup season with two gold medals at home in Obihiro.
Following his career first World Cup win in Friday’s 1000m, 27-year-old Yamada added a 1500m gold to his tally. Also on Saturday, Norway won the men’s team pursuit, leaving Italy and the USA behind.
Fearless start pays off for Yamada
When Yamada took the ice in the fifth of 10 pairs in the 1500m, Ning Zhongyan (CHN) had already set a high bar in the first pairing. The 24-year-old Chinese stopped the clock at 1 minute and 45.59s in a well-paced effort.
Yamada went in fearlessly. With the fastest opening split of the field (23.7s), he took an 0.44s advantage over Ning after 300m, adding another 0.11s at the 700m split. Ning had managed to hold on to his pace longer, however, and Yamada lost ground in the last two laps. Nevertheless, as he crossed the finish line, he had 0.02s spare to keep Ning at bay.
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Masaya Yamada (JPN) performs during 1500m Men Division A race on day two of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating at Meiji Hokkaido Tokachi Oval on November 11, 2023 in Obihiro (JPN). © ISU
In the following pairings double World Champion Thomas Krol (NED) and double Olympic champion Kjeld Nuis (NED) had to bow their heads, coming in 11th and 6th respectively.
Reigning world champion Jordan Stolz (USA) took on Patrick Roest (NED) in the final pair. The 19-year-old American left his Dutch rival behind early on, but trailed Yamada’s time by 0.37s after the opener and by 0.70s at the 700m split. Stolz was 0.88s behind at 1100m but a superb 28.1 lap saw him equal Ning’s time to take silver on a photo-finish decision.
Yamada had been watching Stolz’s race nervously. “Of course, Jordan is a really fast skater and I saw that it was going to be tight. I think I made the best of my home advantage today to pull off the win,” he said.
The past three years had been tough on Yamada, who has suffered from a long-term ankle injury.
“I fully recovered this summer so I could focus on my performance instead of worrying about my ankle,” he said.
“This weekend gives me a lot of confidence going into this season.”
Endurance training pays off for slow-starter Stolz
Stolz wasn’t too worried about coming in second, blaming himself for starting too cautiously.
“I went out a bit too slow, and then I was able to hold it. I feel like if I would have gone harder in the beginning, maybe I still could have had that last lap. Just carrying the speed, I could have done it, but overall, it's good enough.”
Jordan Stolz (USA) blamed himself for a cautious start but powered to a photo-finish silver ahead of China's Ning © ISU
Over the summer, the 19-year-old American did more endurance training than he was used to before. It definitely paid off in the last lap of the 1500m, and on Sunday he’s also giving it a try in the 5000m, which is quite unfamiliar terrain for him yet.
“I’m looking forward to getting some pain in the legs,” he smiled.
Pedersen pushes youngsters to Team Pursuit victory
Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR) has won the Olympic Team Pursuit title at the past two Olympic Games, but he never takes winning for granted. Pushing youngsters Sander Eitrem and Peder Kongshaug from the back, the anchor from Bergen was able to add another World Cup win to his tally on Saturday, finishing in 3 minutes and 40.83s.
“The balance was good,” Pedersen said. “But the opening lap was a bit too slow. It was the first time Eitrem was in the lead position in a race, so we still need to practice on that. But I’m really satisfied with how it went and we also won by a good margin.
“We have a really strong team, so we can have different lineups and still be able to skate really fast.”
Sander Eitrem takes his turn ahead of Peder Kongshaug and Sverre Lunde Pedersen in Norway's winning Team Pursuit skate © ISU
Pedersen set his sights on the only title he hasn’t won with the Norwegian Team Pursuit squad yet.
“The World Championships is our goal this year,” he said. “We have a good chance with this team, but I have to skate fast myself to be in the team first, because we have others who can bring quality as well.”
Italy (Andrea Giovannini, Davide Ghiotto and Michele Malfatti) took silver in 3:42.78, taking the first Italian Team Pursuit medal since 6 December 2021, when they took World Cup bronze in Salt Lake City.
“It’s nice to be here again,” Giovannini said.
Back in 2006, Italy won the first ever Olympic Team Pursuit title on home soil, a gold which is inspiring the current generation to do it all over again at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan.
Ghiotto said: “We always work together in training camps. It’s important because we’ll have the Olympic Games in Italy in two years.”
Olympic hopefuls Italy and a delighted USA team joined the victorious Norwegians on the Team Pursuit podium © ISU
The United states finished third in 3:43.57. Skating in an improvised lineup with Conor McDermott-Mostowy (USA) instead of the injured Casey Dawson (USA), Ethan Cepuran was surprised to even get to the podium.
“Casey was just having an injury and we didn't want to make worse for the rest of the weekend or the season. So it was a team decision to make sure Casey is healthy.
“I haven’t been in the lead for a race in two or three years, so I was just trying to skate. We thought we were fighting for a second to last place, to stay in the A Division, that was our goal going into the race. When we crossed the line that popped up in third, that was pure, pure delight.”
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Where to watch
Viewers will be able to watch the World Cup sessions via their national broadcaster/channel.
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ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series events 2023/24:
Nov 10 - 12, 2023 Obihiro /JPN
Nov 17 - 19, 2023 Beijing /CHN
Dec 01 - 03, 2023 Stavanger /NOR
Dec 08 - 10, 2023 Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
Jan 26 - 28, 2024 Salt Lake City /USA
Feb 02 - 04, 2024 Québec /CAN
About ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series
The ISU World Cup Speed Skating is a Series of Speed Skating competitions which have taken place annually since 1984. The series comprises six events (four during an Olympic season), with A Division and B Division races. Skaters can earn points at each competition, and the Skater with the most points on a given distance at the end of the series is the World Cup winner in that distance. The four World Cup Competitions held from November to December serve as qualifying events for entry quotas at the ISU European Championships, and the ISU Four Continents Championships. The whole series of six events serves as qualifying events for the World Single Distances Championships, and/or the World Sprint and Allround Speed Skating Championships.
World Cup titles are awarded in 500m, 1000m, 1500m, combined 5000m/10,000m, and Mass Start for men, and 500m, 1000m, 1500m, the combined 3000m/5000m, and Mass Start for women. Both genders also compete for the World Cup titles in Team Pursuit and Team Sprint. New in the 2023/24 program is the Mixed Gender Relay over six laps, in which teams of one man and one woman compete.
(For full explanation of this season’s ISU World Cup (entry rules, formats, qualifying, and prizes: https://www.isu.org/speed-skating/rules/ssk-communications/31562-isu-communication-2587/file)
