At the start of the World Speed Skating Championships in Calgary, the German speed skaters were impressive – the German records tumbled in the non-Olympic team sprint.
A good start for the German speed skaters: They impressed with German records in the non-Olympic team sprint at the individual track world championships in Calgary.
On the Olympic Oval in Canada, Josephine Heimerl (Inzell), Michelle Uhrig and Lea-Sophie Scholz (both Berlin) took sixth place among the eight teams in 1:29.30 minutes, gold went to Canada.
In the men’s category, Hendrik Dombek (Munich), Moritz Klein and Stefan Emele (both Erfurt) came in seventh place in 1:18.80 minutes, Canada won in the world record time of 1:17.17 minutes, just 0.002 seconds ahead of the Netherlands. The previous German records (1:29.31/1:19.96) were from December 2022, also run in Calgary.
The first World Cup title goes to the Netherlands
The first titles at Olympic distances went to the Netherlands on Thursday: Irene Schouten won gold in the 3,000 m, the first time since 1996 that no German starter had qualified.
The men’s decision over 5,000 m also took place without German participation; the victory went to Patrick Roest. Eleven starters from the German Speed Skating and Short Track Association (DESG), including 51-year-old Claudia Pechstein, started the journey to Canada. The association believes there are chances in the women’s mass start; Uhrig finished third at the last World Cup in Quebec.