On the second day of the Speed Skating World Championships in Heerenveen, the Dutch hosts won three more medals. But there was a lot of trouble about a denied title. German starters started in one of four races.
Team Netherlands won two more gold medals at the Speed Skating World Championships in Heerenveen. On the second day of the title fights in the legendary Thialf on Friday (March 3rd, 2023), the team pursuit trio with Patrick Roest, Beau Snellink and Marcel Bosker celebrated the world title, as did 500-meter sprinter Femke Kok.
Women’s Team Pursuit: Too Much Skin
When crossing the finish line, the Dutch team pursuit women also raised their arms in the air: Joy Beune, Irene Shouten and Marijke Groenewould crossed the finish line with a best time of 2:52.65 minutes. Shortly thereafter, however, disillusionment and frustration: the Dutch women were disqualified. Front runner Beune flashed some skin above her left shoe during the race, which is prohibited because of the risk of injury. Disqualification followed. Gold went to the Canadian trio Valerie Maltais, Ivaine Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann (2:54.58 minutes).
German trio in seventh place
The German women did not get past seventh place (+ 14.3 seconds). For the trio of Lea Sophie Scholz, Michelle Uhrig and Josie Hofmann, however, qualifying for the World Cup final of the top eight was already a success. The German women celebrated their last major success in the team pursuit in March 2018. With Uhrig, Claudia Pechstein and Gabriele Hirschbichler, they finished third in the World Cup in Minsk. Last season, he achieved respectable success with fifth place at the European Championships.
Women’s 500 meters: Two medals for “Oranje”
The other races on Friday took place without German participation. In the men’s team pursuit, Canada (+ 0.17 seconds) and Norway (+ 2.67 seconds) took second and third place behind the Netherlands (3:38.26 minutes). Fem Kok (37.28 seconds) won the women’s 500 meters ahead of Vanessa Herzog from Austria (+ 0.05 seconds), and another Dutch woman, Jutta Leerdam (+ 0.26 seconds), won bronze.
US sprinter wins over 500 meters
Jorand Stolz from the USA (34.10 seconds) won the men’s sprint over 500 meters ahead of Laurent Dubreil from Canada (+ 0.36 seconds) and Wataru Morishige from Japan (+ 0.38 seconds).
Pechstein will be at the start on Saturday and Sunday
Record Olympian Claudia Pechstein will not start at her 21st World Championships until Saturday (March 4th, 2023) and Sunday (March 5th, 2023) in the mass start and over 5000 meters. The 51-year-old, who has collected 30 World Championship medals to date, took part in the premiere of the prestigious competition in 1996.
The German starting field at the World Cup
Women
- Lea Sophie Scholz – 1,000 meters, team pursuit, team sprint
- Anna Ostlender – 1,000 meters, team sprint
- Michelle Uhrig – 1,500 meters, 3,000 meters, mass start, team pursuit
- Claudia Pechstein – 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters, mass start, team pursuit
- Josie Hofmann – 5,000 meters, mass start, team pursuit
- Katja Franzen – Team Sprint
Men
- Moritz Klein – 1,000 meters, 1,500 meters, team sprint
- Hendrik Dombek – 1,000 meters, team sprint
- Stefan Emele – 1,000 meters, 1,500 meters, team sprint
- Felix Rijhnen – 5,000 meters, mass start
- Fridtjof Petzold – 5,000 meters, mass start
- Felix Maly – mass start
- Niklas Kurzmann – Team Sprint