City resident Jenning de Boo was still shaking on his legs after completing the 1000 meters. It had been that exciting. But the 19-year-old Groningen can participate in the World Cups for the first time. He could barely comprehend it.
Jenning de Boo exchanged short track speed skating for long track speed skating this season. He hoped to set a personal best during his debut at the World Cup Qualifying Tournament (WCKT). But the Groningen youngster from Team Reggeborgh did more than that on Sunday in Thialf in Heerenveen. After having previously improved his PR considerably to 38.04 in the 500 meters, the 19-year-old went even further in the 1000 meters.
His ride not only gave De Boo another great personal record of 1.08.14, his performance was also good for a fourth place and a starting ticket for the World Cups in Japan and China. The debutant could hardly believe it. “This is a huge surprise,” said the Groninger, who barely realized what had happened to him. “I came here with a time of 1.10.67 for the 1000 meters. I had already been happy with a PR and wanted to drive 1.09 low. Today I was a little faster.”
This still needs to sink in
“I was already one second faster in the 500 meters,” continued the pure sprinter. “I knew that a PR was also possible in the 1000 meters, but I did not see this coming. The fact that I can participate in the World Cups still takes some time to sink in. I am especially very happy.” According to De Boo, the choice for long track speed skating over short track speed skating (where he won a world title as a junior) was apparently a good one. “This is some confirmation. I wanted to prove myself here. That worked.”
De Boo put up an exciting battle in his race against his teammate, the only 20-year-old Tim Prins. The Groninger was briefly ahead, but saw his opponent finish faster. Prins’ time of 1.07.96 was surprisingly good for first place. “I opened faster than Tim,” said De Boo, “but his last round was better. We have a very good friendship and mutual competition. We only make each other better. I made a lot of progress last summer. We mainly worked on my technique.”
Instead of Holland Cup to Japan and China
The Groninger has no idea what awaits him after qualifying for the World Cups. ,,No idea. Before this, I had looked at which Holland Cups I should ride in the Netherlands. Japan and China will be something different. At the 500 meters I was just next to a starting ticket. What has happened now is only beautiful.”
After his ride, he had to wait anxiously to see whether his time on the 1000 meters would be fast enough for a starting permit. To achieve this, De Boo had to finish in the top five, but after him a number of other top players came into action. “I’m still shaking. We were on ride five and there were twelve. I was very nervous and was shaking extremely. But in the end it was enough for a starting ticket.”
Thomas Kroll is left out
This did not apply to Olympic champion Thomas Krol, who finished eleventh in 1.09.00. Tijmen Snel (1.08.09) came second and Kjeld Nuis (1.08.11) third. After the Boo, Janno Botman grabbed the last ticket. Kai Verbij fell and hit the boards hard. He was taken away on a stretcher with a painful shoulder. Hein Otterspeer (sixth), Merijn Scheperkamp (tenth) and Joep Wennemars (eighth) also missed out on a starting ticket. Dai Dai N’tab from Groningen did not start due to a painful back.
There was no match for Patrick Roest on the ice at Thialf. He was fastest on the 1500 meters and the five and ten kilometers. The 27-year-old from Team Reggeborgh had the crowd on the benches with a time of 12.49.89 for the longest distance. “It was a lot of pain, but I was able to speed up the last laps,” said the multiple world champion, who won three starting tickets. “I’m happy with how it went. If I want to compete with the world’s best, I have to do it even faster. I feel like that’s possible.”
Behind Roest, Jorrit Bergsma (Jumbo-Visma) showed that he is still a top rider over the longest distance. De Fries, who finished in the back of the field after the five kilometers, now finished second in 12.59.67. This means he can participate in the only ten kilometers during the World Cup in Stavanger. “I heard it said after the 5000 meters: the old man (37, ed.) can’t do it anymore, haha. But they haven’t gotten rid of me yet,” Bergsma said.
The man from Garnwerd is nine seconds off PR
His teammate Chris Huizinga, who finished second in the 5000 meters on Friday, took double the distance with 13.10.85 and placed seventh in addition to a second World Cup ticket. The man from Garnwerd missed his PR by nine seconds.
The finish of the women’s 300 meters looked a lot like the soap opera Good times Bad Times . Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong first did not have a ticket for the first World Cups on Saturday, then she did and finally not. The Frisian finished sixth, but heard that number three Elisa Dul had been disqualified. As a result, the Frisian would move up one spot.
But that turned out to be different after a protest was lodged later in the evening. Dul’s disqualification was reversed. Turns out she hadn’t crossed the line after all. “It was clear from the images that I didn’t even touch the line,” said Dul. As a result, Rijpma-de Jong was still unable to get a starting permit.
The 3000 meters was won in a lightning fast race by Irene Schouten (AH Zaanlander) in 3.55.89, the fourth fastest time ever in Thialf. She stayed ahead of teammate Marijke Groenewoud (3.58.08). Joy Beune from the Groningen Team IKO and Sanne in ‘t Hof, a physiotherapy student at Hanze University of Applied Sciences, skated to two tickets with 4.01.69 and 4.02.32 respectively. Schouten also won the 5000 meters on Sunday in a fast 6.42.24. In the men’s 1500 meters, Kjeld Nuis (1.44.28), who had recovered from the flu, rode to second place after Roest (1.44.04) and a starting ticket.