



As the second World cup wrapped up in Tomakomai, skaters competed in the men’s and women’s 1000m as well as the long-distance races and the always exciting team sprint event.

By Maria Dalton

Photo by Bill Christ

On the final day of the second World cup on the season many familiar faces found themselves atop the podium in the 1000m, long distance races and team sprint. The Dutch men once again showed their prowess in the 1000m, while Canadian Isabelle Weidemann captured her first individual world cup medal.

Nuis, Kodaira on top in the 1000m

It was another Dutch podium sweep in the men’s 1000m. Kjeld Nuis brought home his first gold medal of the season in the 1000m after a second-place finish last weekend in Obihiro. The Olympic champion set a new track record with a time of 1:10.453. Kai Verbij improved upon his fifth-place finish from the week before by capturing the silver medal with his time of 1:10.722. Rounding off the Dutch podium sweep was Thomas Krol who posted a time of 1:10.916 to narrowly edge out Havard Lorentzen for the bronze medal. Tae-Yun Kim of Korea completed the top-5.

Nao Kodaira has been on fire so far this season, and her performance today in the 1000m certainly did not disappoint. Kodaira finished with a time of 1:17.31 to set a new track record. Finishing in second place was Brittany Bowe with a time of 1:17.656, just ahead of Vanessa Herzog. Herzog captured the gold medal in the 1000m last weekend in Obihiro, however her time of 1:17.77 today was only good enough for the bronze medal. Rounding out the top-5 were Ireen Wust and Miho Takagi, respectively.

Swings, Weidemann shine in long distance races

Bart Swings found himself atop the podium for the first time this weekend after taking home the bronze medal in the Mass Start just a day earlier. Swings finished with a time of 6:34.857 to set a new track record and bring home the gold medal. Sverre Lunde Pedersen finished with the silver medal, an improvement on his fifth-place finish from just a week prior, with a time of 6:36.865. Rounded off the podium was last week’s 5000m winner, Patrick Roest. Roest finished with a time of 6:37.327 to edge out Ruslan Zakharov for the final spot on the podium. Sergey Trofimov completed the top-5.

Isabelle Weidemann captured her first individual medal on the World cup circuit – bringing home the gold medal in the second 3000m of the season. Weidemann, a 2018 Olympian who has found success in the team events, finished with a time of 4:10.185 to set a new track record and find herself atop the podium. Last week’s bronze medal winner, Martina Sablikova found herself in the silver medal position this weekend in Tomakomai. Sablikova finished with a time of 4:13.005 to narrowly edge out Francesca Lollobrigida who finished with a time of 4:13.472. Natalia Voronina and Antoinette de Jong rounded out the top-5.

Russia, Netherlands atop the podium in the Team Sprint.