One day after the German speed skaters, the sprinters also narrowly missed out on winning a medal at the European Individual Distance Championships in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
The trio Maximilian Strübe, Moritz Klein (both Erfurt) and Hendrik Dombek (Munich) were only 0.66 seconds behind the Netherlands in third place in the team sprint on Saturday (January 6, 2024) in 1:21.27 minutes (1: 20.61). Poland surprisingly won the title in 1:18.31 minutes ahead of Norway (1:18.81).
The day before, Anna Ostlender (Inzell), Michelle Uhrig and Lea Sophie Scholz (both Berlin) also took fourth place in the team sprint. Klein also surprisingly ran fifth in the 1,000 m in 1:08.77 minutes.
Triple success for the hosts
The hosts celebrated a triple success in the women’s 1,500 meters with winner Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong in 1:53.48 minutes, Marijke Groenewoud (1:53.66) and Joy Beune (1:55.02). The best German was Lea Sophie Scholz, who took tenth place in 2:00.22 minutes. The Dutchwoman Femke Kok won the 500 meter title in 37.28 seconds ahead of her compatriot Jutta Leerdam in 37.70 seconds. Anna Ostlender came eleventh in 39.09 seconds.
There was a favorite victory over 5000 meters by world champion Patrick Roest from the Netherlands in 6:05.93 minutes. With a personal best of 6:24.54 minutes, Fridtjof Petzold (Crimmitschau) was the best starter in the German Speed Skating and Short Track Association (DESG) in twelfth place.
Claudia Pechstein is not there in Heerenveen. The 51-year-old was unable to prevail in the internal German qualification.