ISU

After his 1500m silver, Thomas Krol (NED) took another step up to the podium, seizing the Olympic 1000m title in Beijing. The Dutchman finished in 1 minute 7.92s, to keep Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) 0.40s behind. The Canadian landed silver after an act of true selfless sportsmanship by Krol’s long-time friend Kai Verbij (NED), who made way for Dubreuil after the pair ended up level on the final backstretch of their exhilarating race. Håvard Lorentzen (NOR) followed up his 2018 silver with bronze at the Beijing 2022 Olympics.

No fixed lanes, no planned schedules or coaches with lap-times, but everyone at the starting line for a bunch race over 16 laps. It’s Mass Start time in Beijing. The traditionalists in long track Speed Skating still look at it with a sense of reluctance, but most Skaters have embraced the new dynamics since the event was added to the World Cup program ten years ago. 

Four Dutch Men dominated the 1000m in the first four World Cups this season, but every nation has a maximum of three starting slots per distance at the Olympic Games. Reigning Olympic Champion Kjeld Nuis (NED) was the unlucky one out in the distance at the Dutch trials. Thomas Krol (NED), Hein Otterspeer (NED) and Kai Verbij (NED) all enter the competition in Beijing as title contenders. Based on the World Cup ranking, home favorite Ning Zhongyan (CHN), 2018 silver medalist Håvard Lorentzen (NOR) and Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil are their main challengers.

She saved the best for the last. After having collected three silver medals in the Beijing National Speed Skating Oval already, Miho Takagi (JPN) finally seized her much coveted first individual Olympic gold in the 1000m. In a superb display of technique and power, the 27-year-old World Sprint Champion shattered the Olympic record by a 0.37 margin in 1 minute 13.19s, leaving Jutta Leerdam (NED) 0.64s behind in silver. World record holder Brittany Bowe (USA) had to settle for bronze in 1:14.61s.

After having won silver in the 1500m, the 500m as well as in the Team Pursuit Final, Miho Takagi (JPN) seems to be the most obvious favorite for the 1000m distance that’s right in between. Yet, competition will be tough in the Women’s 1000m on Thursday. Having seen her teammate and friend Erin Jackson‘s fairy tale 500m win, World Cup leader Brittany Bowe (USA) hopes to complete her long Olympic journey at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval with a medal herself, while 2020 World Champion Jutta Leerdam (NED) has also set her eyes on 1000m gold.

They lost their PyeongChang 2018 Olympic record, but the Norwegian Men couldn’t care less after they retained their Olympic Team Pursuit title in the Final with a flawless race against the athletes representing the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). The Japanese Women were on course to also repeat their PyeongChang 2018 gold, but Nana Takagi crashed in the last corner, being pushed to the utter limit by Team Canada, who ended up running away with the gold medal. The bronze medals went to Team USA in the Men’s competition and the Netherlands in the Women’s.

Based on the IOC Executive Board Decision, the IOC requests the International Skating Union (ISU) for reasons of fairness to allow a 25th competitor to participate in the Women Single Skating Free Skating of the competition on February 17, in case Ms. Valieva is ranked in the first 24 of the Short Pogram on February 15. 

Skating is very much a solitary sport. The athletes compete in separate lanes, in a physical and mental struggle against the clock. There’s one exception: the Team Pursuit. It’s not just about the fastest Skaters, it’s about working together or, as Ethan Cepuran (USA) put it after the quarter finals: “(make) three Skaters look like one, and just become one unit.” 

Following the hearing of the Ad hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the arbitration procedures relating to Figure Skater Kamila Valieva (ROC), the International Skating Union (ISU) duly noted and will respect the ruling namely that the provisional suspension of Ms. Valieva remains lifted.

Erin Jackson (USA) first put on skates six years ago and she had trouble to even stay upright, but she turned out to be a quick student. After coming in 24th at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games, the 29-year-old from Florida ran away with gold in the 500m four years later in Beijing. Miho Takagi (JPN) took a surprise silver and world champion Angelina Golikova (ROC) seized bronze. Jackson could hardly believe she’d pulled it off after her bumpy road towards Beijing.

No matter the result, the Beijing 2022 Women’s 500m contains one of those stories that make the Olympic Games just that little more special than any other championships. It’s about Olympic spirit. After Erin Jackson (USA) messed up her race at the USA Olympic Trials, teammate Brittany Bowe sacrificed her qualifying spot. Being the favorite doesn’t make it easier for Jackson, who faces a highly competitive field, and as her hiccup at the trials showed, even the smallest mistake can be deadly in the 500m.

Home favorite Gao Tingyu (CHN) led an all Asian podium in the men’s 500m on Saturday. The 2018 Olympic bronze medal winner hammered out a 9.42s opener and maintained his blistering pace throughout the lap, to finish in a new Olympic record of 34.32s. Korea’s Cha Min Kyu repeated his silver medal from the PyeongChang 2018 Games, and Japan’s Wataru Morishige completed the Beijing 2022 podium seizing the bonze. World Cup leader Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) finished 0.03 adrift of the podium in fourth place.

Saturday’s action at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing is all about the fast and the furious, with the Men’s 500m on the program. Home favorite Gao Tingyu (CHN) showed the fastest ever opener with 9.32s at the first World Cup this season, but World Cup leader Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) has been most consistent, being on the podium in all eight races and winning two. For Håvard Lorentzen (NOR), defending his 2018 title will be an uphill battle: “I am not as strong as I was four years ago,” he said.

Patrick Roest (NED) knew he had to do ‘something really special’, to beat Nils van der Poel (SWE) in the 10,000m on Friday.  After having won the 5000m by a small margin last Sunday, the Swedish long distance-machine shifted to another gear again and hammered out an incredible word record of 12 minutes and 30.74 seconds. Roest had to settle for silver trailing by 13.85 seconds, and Davide Ghiotto (ITA) took bronze at 15.24s.

Douwe de Vries (NED) was elected on February 11, 2022 to the ISU Athletes Commission as the Speed Skating representative.