Miho Takagi (JPN) in fine form at the ISU World Speed Skating Sprint Championships in Inzell, Germany © ISU
Miho Takagi (JPN) laid a solid foundation for a career-second sprint world title, delivering a perfect opening day at the ISU World Sprint Championships in Inzell, Germany on Thursday. After coming second in the 500m and winning the 1000m in a track record one minute, 13.32 seconds, the 2020 champion took a 46-second lead over second-placed Femke Kok (NED), and a 48-second advantage over defending champion Jutta Leerdam (NED), in third.
Kok wins 500m in track record
Femke Kok (NED) started the tournament with a track record 37.07s, shaving .05s off the previous best track mark set by Vanessa Herzog (AUT) at the World Single Distances Championships five years ago. Herzog finished sixth here in 37.57s.
Kok was .03s faster than Takagi in the opener, and added another .03s in the full lap to beat her Japanese rival by a .06s margin.
“Actually my 500m did not feel very well at all,” Kok said, “but it turned out to be very good after all. To skate a track record is very special. Inzell is a rink where all the great champions have skated before so I’m very proud to set a track record here.”
With her second place in 37.13s, Takagi kept Kok within shooting distance. Defending champion Jutta Leerdam (NED), a 1000m specialist, was happy with her fifth place finish in 37.41s in the shortest distance.
Kim Min Sun (KOR) was third in the 500m in 37.36s, while Olympic champion Erin Jackson (USA) finished fourth in 37.40s.
Femke Kok (NED) wins the Women's 1st 500m in Inzell, Germany © ISU
Takagi nails it in 1000m
Kok started the 1000m with a .12s margin over Takagi. The two were paired up at the draw and after taking an early lead, Kok was still .09s ahead of her opponent at the 600m split, but then Takagi put on the afterburner. With the advantage of the last inner corner, she chased down Kok down on the back straight, finishing.09s ahead of the 2019 track record set by Brittany Bowe (USA). Kok lost over a second in the final lap, and finished 1.03s behind.
“I was doing really well up until 800m,” Kok said. “But then, that last outer, I noticed that she came alongside and instead of staying calm, I wanted to counter her and I got up and lost composure. At least I learned from it and I hope to do that better tomorrow.”
Kok had to admit that Takagi was in a league of her own on Thursday.
“She definitely beat me on merit. If you look at her time, a track record, the level is so high, I skated against the world and Olympic champion.”
Takagi was happier with her 500m than with her track-record victory in the 1000m.
“The 500m was pretty good, especially the first 100m, which I think was the fastest opener I ever did,” the 29-year-old said.
“I feel very good, but this tournament is about four distances, so we’ll have to see. The gap is big, but that doesn’t mean I can go easy tomorrow.”
Takagi is also on the entry list for the World Allround Championships on Saturday and Sunday.
“I’m not sure if I’m going to skate [the Allround Championships] yet, I want to focus on the sprint tournament first.”
Japan's Miho Takagi in Inzell, Germany © ISU
Kok’s 1:14.35 in the 1000m was good for third place in the distance and second in the ranking after the first day. Leerdam took silver in the 1000m in 1:13.71, to come in third after Day 1. She, too, thought Takagi would be out of reach after the first day, but was content with her own racing, especially in the 500m.
“I had no idea what my level would be, and my 500m was pretty good today,” Leerdam said. “My 1000m could have been better, so that’s a bit of a pity.
“[Takagi] is just very good and if she’s better than me at the moment, she’s just better. I respect that. I want to do the best I can, skate a good tournament and finish the season confidently.”
The women's 1st 1000m podium: (L-R) Jutta Leerdam (NED), Miho Takagi (JPN) and Femke Kok (NED) © ISU
Speed Skating tradition
Although the single distance format tends to get more attention because it’s Olympic style, the long track Speed Skating championships were traditionally decided by racing multiple distance tournaments. The first ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships were held in 1893, when Jaap Eden (NED) took the title in Amsterdam (NED). The first World Single Distances Championships were held over a century later in Hamar (NOR) in 1996.
In the traditional Allround format skaters a classification is made up after four distances. Men skate the 500m and the 5000m on the first day and the 1500m and the 10,000m on the second. The women’s distances are 500m, 3000m, 1500m and 5000m.
The World Sprint Championships were first held in 1970. In this format both the men and the women skate the 500m and the 1000m twice.
In Inzell (GER), the Sprint Championships are held on Thursday and Friday, and the Allround Championships are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Samalog score
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 10 and for the 10,000m by 20.
Program:
Thursday 7 March 2024
19:00 - 1st 500m Women
19:00 - 1st 500m Men
19:00 - 1st 1000m Women
19:00 - 1st 1000m Men
Friday 8 March 2024
18:30 - 2nd 500m Women
18:30 - 2nd 500m Men
18:30 - 2nd 1000m Women
18:30 - 2nd 1000m Men
Saturday 9 March 2024
12:45 - 500m Women
12:45 - 500m Men
12:45 - 3000m Women
12:45 - 5000m Men
Sunday 10 March 2024
13:15 - 1500m Women
13:15 - 1500m Men
13:15 - 5000m Women
13:15 - 10000m Men
