Claudia Pechstein made a heart for the photographers with her hands and was just satisfied. One month before the Olympic Winter Games, the Berliner celebrated a respectable success with seventh place over 3000 meters at the European Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
“I know that I am no longer fighting for medals, then I also know that the 3000 meters are not my route, but I know that I made a good race. I wanted to be the best German, I did that again” said the 49-year-old.
In a direct duel with her teammate Leia Behlau, the five-time Olympic champion prevailed in 4: 11.60 minutes. The Inzell woman ran the ninth fastest time in 4: 14.20 minutes. The European champion was Irene Schouten from the Netherlands in 3: 56.62 minutes ahead of her compatriot Antoinette de Jong (3: 59.79) and Francesca Lollobrigida from Italy (4: 00.61).
Dufter is fifth
At the end of the first day of the competition, Joel Dufter ensured the best German placement. The sprint specialist ran over 1000 meters to fifth place in 1: 08.69 minutes. Thomas Krol (1: 07.77), Kjeld Nuis (1: 07.86) and Kai Verbij (1: 07.94) ensured a triple success for the hosts.
In the first decision of the day, the German sprinters only came fourth out of four teams in the team competition. Katja Franzen (Inzell), Sophie Warmuth (Erfurt) and Lea Sophie Scholz (Berlin) lost the three-round duel against Belarus in 1: 32.29 minutes. The victory went to Poland in 1: 27.26 minutes ahead of Belarus (1: 31.18) and Norway (1: 31.43).
The second decision on the first day of the competition took place without German participation. In the team pursuit, the German Speed Skating and Short Track Association (DESG) decided not to start for a short time. For Fridtjof Petzold from Erfurt, a start in the Pursuit team after a cold between Christmas and New Year came too early, said DESG sports director Nadine Seidenglanz. “That’s why we said that if we can’t send a representative team, we’ll cancel,” she said. Like two years ago, the Dutch won the title.
Russia refrains from starting
The opening day was overshadowed by Russia’s decision not to start. Due to a corona outbreak, the national association announced that it would take part in the four decisions on the first day a few hours before the start of the championship. The entire team is still in quarantine. According to the results of PCR tests that were taken on Friday, it will be decided whether Russian athletes will still compete in the European Championships.
Previously, the Russian top sprinters Pawel Kulischnikow, Artjom Arefjew, Ruslan Muraschow and Viktor Muschtakow officially decided not to participate in the European Championship for health reasons. Head coach Dmitri Dorofejew said they would miss the European Championship “due to illness”. The entire Russian team has been in quarantine since arriving in the Netherlands on Tuesday due to several corona infections.
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