Marijke Groenewoud (NED) in the Women's Allround 3000m at the ISU World Speed Skating Sprint Championships in Inzell, Germany © ISU
It was a bold decision to start in the World Allround Championships after having won the World Sprint Championships the night before, but Miho Takagi (JPN) wanted to give it a shot. She managed to win the 500m, but dropped to third place after the 3000m, when the fatigue got the better of her. Takagi decided to quit, leaving the field open for Joy Beune (NED) and Marijke Groenewoud (NED) to fight for the title. Beune skated a track record in the 3000m on Saturday, but Groenewoud leads her compatriot by a small margin in the overall.
Takagi defies fatigue in opening distance
After having won the World Sprint title on Friday evening, Miho Takagi (JPN) decided she was fit enough to enter the World Allround Championships on Saturday morning. Being the fastest sprinter in the world, she had to hit hard in the 500m to build a solid cushion for the remaining three distances.
Miho Takagi (JPN) in the 500m Women’s AllRound at the ISU World Speed Skating Sprint Championships in Inzell, Germany © ISU
Stopping the clock at 37.56s in the Max Aicher Arena, the newly minted World Sprint Champion was slower than she had been in the sprint tournament on Thursday (37.13s) and Friday (37.19s), but she was the only skater under 38 seconds in the Allround field.
Han Mei (CHN) finished second posting a personal best in 38.01, and Ayano Sato (JPN) took third place in 38.21s.
The Dutch trio Groenewoud and Beune and Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (NED) eventually turned out to be Takagi’s main rivals for the title.
In the shortest distance, Groenewoud was Takagi’s pair-mate. Coming from the inner lane, she barely managed to cross in front of the Japanese sprinter at the back stretch, but the double Mass Start World Champion limited the damage in the shortest distance to 1.08s, finishing in 38.64s for sixth place.
“I expected her (Takagi) to cross ahead of me, because she was super fast yesterday, but when we got into that (first) corner, I saw that she was not going to stay in front that easy, so I had to push a little extra in the inner and hope for the best, but I felt I had a clear crossing,” Groenewoud said.
Four-time world allround bronze medalist Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (NED) skated 38.35s to come in fourth in the 500m, while World 5000m Champion Joy Beune (NED) had to swallow a 1.61s deficit towards Takagi. Finishing tenth in 39.17s, Beune had set herself up for a big chase in the afternoon.
Joy Beune (NED) in the Women's Allround at the ISU World Speed Skating Sprint Championships in Inzell, Germany © ISU
Beune crushes track record
Takagi was the first of the title contenders to take the ice in the 3000m. The 500m winner completed the distance in 4:05.41 before the ice cleaning break.
Beune knew she needed a track record to overtake her Japanese rival in the overall ranking and that’s exactly what she set out to do. Whereas Takagi had started with two laps in 31s, gradually going up from 32s in the four following full laps and finishing with a 33.6s lap, Beune managed to keep her laps under 31 seconds up until the final two laps to beat the 2019 track record set by Martina Sáblíková (CZE) by a 3.19s margin.
Norway’s Ragne Wiklund (NOR) , who had blown her chances for a podium finish in the overall with 40.08s and 19th place in the 500m, made amends skating 3:58.29 in the 3000m to end up third in the distance.
Groenewoud took on Rijpma-De Jong in the final pairing of the second distance on Saturday. With 3:57.94 for second place in the 3000m, she managed to overtake both Takagi and Beune in overall ranking after the first two distances. Rijpma-De Jong skated 4:01.05 for fifth place in the distance and fourth in the intermediate overall.
Praise for bold Takagi
Both Beune and Groenewoud praised Takagi for taking on the challenge of the Allround Championships less than 24 hours after winning the World Sprint title.
Marijke Groenewoud (NED) prepares in the Women's Allround 500m in Inzell, Germany © ISU
“To skate four distances in the sprint and recharge again - that’s a bold decision,” Groenewoud said. “It’s great that she started. Of course, it’s a big rival, but it’s all the more fantastic to win if she’s also participating.”
Takagi herself had her doubts.
“I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone,” she said about skating the World Allround Championships straight after the World Sprints. She felt exhausted after finishing the 3000m.
“That was the toughest race for me so far.”
Despite being third in the ranking, Takagi decided to throw in the towel on Saturday night.
“Last night I prepared for today, because hoped to be up for it mentally. I kept focus and then this morning I felt up to the 500m and the 3000m."
Coming off the ice Takagi said: “My body is incredibly tired. I don’t know if I am going to start tomorrow. I first wanted to finish my 3000m and then think about it.”
A little later her coach Johan de Wit (NED) confirmed that Takagi had quit the tournament.
Having overcome the big gap after her worst distance on Saturday morning, Beune felt confident about the remainder of the tournament.
Joy Beune (NED) in the Women's Allround at the ISU World Speed Skating Sprint Championships in Inzell, Germany © ISU
“I’m in a good position right now.
“(After the 500m) I knew that I had a good one. My opener is not the best of course, but the lap was good, so the speed for tomorrow’s 1500m is there. And I also have the stamina (for the 5000m) so I’m looking forward to it.
“The feeling is great. I’m very confident. A track record and a personal best in the 3000m means I’m on the right track, but it’s a tournament over four distances, so I have to be sharp and perform again tomorrow.
“I’m second in the ranking at the moment, so I’m not going to say that I’m going to win this easily.”
Groenewoud was happy to be the underdog, despite being on top of the ranking after two distances.
“By the look of the ranking, I feel very good,” she laughed. “I’ve had a good day, two strong distances and I’m paired to Joy in tomorrow’s 1500m, which I really like. I have to stay closer in the 5000m than I did in today’s 3000m.
“You can write down Joy as the favorite. I’m half a point ahead after the first day, but it’s far from over yet.”
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
