The German speed skating hope Finn Sonnekalb continued to cause a stir among the world elite at the World Cup opener in Salt Lake City.
The 18-year-old from Erfurt set a German record and a junior world record over 1,500 m in 1:41.33 minutes, catapulted himself onto the podium in third place and thus also fulfilled the standard for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Peter Adeberg from Berlin was the last German to win a World Cup race over the 1500 m in Inzell in March 1993. Sonnekalb improved Hendrik Dombek’s German record (1:43.73) from January in Calgary by more than two seconds and dethroned wonder skater Jordan Stolz (USA) in the junior classification; he remained over three and a half seconds below his old record (1:44.99) set in Inzell a month ago on the fast Olympic ice in Salt Lake City.
Like the day before, Stolz secured the day’s victory (1:40.48). Sonnekalb also ran fifth in the 1000 m on Friday with a German record (1:06.48) and had already secured a starting place at the Olympics. This time was subsequently recognized by the world association as a junior world record, and Sonnekalb received a $3,000 bonus for each of the two world records.
Sonnekalb is one of the biggest hopes in German speed skating. The three-time junior world champion won at the Youth Olympic Games and was most recently German champion over 1000 and 1500 m. The middle distance is considered his parade route, as he demonstrated at the start of the World Cup.