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.
In the team sprint of 1:21.27 minutes, the trio Maximilian Strübe, Moritz Klein and Hendrik Dombek were only 0.66 seconds behind the Netherlands in third place (1:20.61). Poland surprisingly won the title in 1:18.31 minutes ahead of Norway (1:18.81). The day before, Anna Ostlender, Michelle Uhrig and Lea Sophie Scholz also finished fourth in the team sprint.
The hosts celebrated a triple success in the women’s 1500 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 was the best starter in the German Speed Skating and Short Track Association (DESG) in twelfth place.