#SpeedSkating

The home skaters started the women’s sprint tournament at the ISU European Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen (NED) strongly on Friday. Femke Kok won the 500m, with Jutta Leerdam coming second, while in the 1000m, the top two were reversed. The third Dutchwoman, Suzanne Schulting, took bronze in both distances. Kaja Ziomek-Nogal (POL) was best of the rest on the first day, coming fourth in the standings and looking to close a distant 1.40s gap in the second 500m on Saturday.

Kok spearheads 500m despite inner corner scare

Although Femke Kok (NED) came first in the 500m on Friday night, the 24-year-old was far from content with her race. Skating against Kaja Ziomek-Nogal (POL), Kok had the fastest opener of the field in 10.36s. Ziomek-Nogal followed with the second best opener in 10.55s.

Coming from the outer lane, Kok chased Ziomek-Nogal down on what seemed to be a flawless back-stretch, but things went awry in the last inner corner.

“It went very well. On the back-stretch I got closer to the Polish skater, and then I had a big mis-stroke. I even thought I was going to crash,” Kok said. She eventually finished in 37.58s.

A fast opener helped Femke Kok (NED) to victory in the 500m despite a near-crash on the last inner corner. © ISU

Defending European Sprint Champion Jutta Leerdam (NED) faced compatriot Suzanne Schulting in the final 500m pairing. Both Dutchwomen had a slower opener and despite being 0.10s faster in the lap, they couldn’t catch up with Kok’s time at the finish line. Leerdam had to settle for second in 37.77s, and Schulting came in third in 37.82s.

Kok was a little disappointed about the 0.19s gap over Leerdam, which translates to a 0.38s gap in the 1000m. 

“The gap should have been bigger, 0.4s or 0.5s,” Kok said. “But there’s still three races to go, and everybody can make a mistake.”

Behind the three dominant home skaters, Ziomek-Nogal was the only other skater to stay under 38s, taking fourth place in 37.92s.

The Spanish Luisa Maria González (ESP) left the tournament a little over 100m into her first race after she stepped on a track marker and crashed in the first corner.

Leerdam makes up difference on new blades

Despite coming 0.19s short of Kok in the 500m, Leerdam was happy with her first race of the tournament and in the 1000m managed to make up her lost time with a strong outing. The Olympic 1000m silver medalist started very fast, which led to a difficult first change-up with Vanessa Herzog (AUT), who had started from the inner lane.

“It was a turbulent change-up,” Leerdam explained. Coming from the outer corner she was level with her Austrian opponent because she was faster, which gave her priority. 

“I just said, yo ho, I have to pass. I was talking during my race, I had to, because, if she doesn’t notice and I get passed I’ll be flat on the ice.”

After that change-up, Leerdam clocked a 44.65s split time at 600m, closing her race with a 29.8s lap.

A change of blades for Jutta Leerdam (NED) saw her win the 1000m and overhaul Kok's lead on the first day of the sprint competition. © ISU

“I’m really happy with that first 600m,” Leerdam said. “I’ve got new blades and with those I can finally put my power into the ice again. It’s only that I get tired a little faster maybe. That final lap just has to be better.” 

Kok was happy with her 1000m race too, coming second at 0.76 from Leerdam. Coming back after a virus infection had kept her off the ice during the first half of the season, she had been a bit insecure about her ability in the 1000m.

“Of course I’m disappointed with that 500m, but I skated a very good 1000m and it’s only the second 1000m I skated this season,” said Kok. 

“My first lap was not so good, but my second was okay, and that gives me a lot of confidence.”

Going into the second day, Kok is 0.19s behind Leerdam, which exactly matches the gap between the two in the first 500m. 

“It’s going to be tight, and I’m planning to give her a tough fight,” Kok concluded.

Suzanne Schulting, who has three Olympic gold medals in short-track on her list of honors, chases her first long track medal at a major international tournament. She felt as if there’s still a lot to learn after switching disciplines this season.

“In the 500m I’ve got the rhythm, but in the 1000m I’m still searching. There’s a lot you have to adapt [when you switch from short-track to long track], but it’s a bit frustrating that I know what I have to do, and I’m able to do it in training, but not yet during the races.”  

Suzanne Schulting (NED) is within touching distance of her first major Speed Skating medal to add to her prodigious Short Track haul. © ISU

With Leerdam, Kok and Schulting on top of the standings with a huge lead halfway through the tournament, Schulting was confident about bringing home the clean sweep on Saturday.

“My first medal at a major championships in long track, that’s special,” she said.

“It shows that we’re in good shape with women’s sprinting in the Netherlands.”

Format and schedule

The Sprint Championships are held on Friday and Saturday with a 500m and a 1000m for both genders on each day. The Allround Championships are scheduled on Saturday and Sunday. 

The men will skate the 500m and the 5000m on the first day, followed by the 1500m and the 10,000m on the second. The women face the 500m and the 3000m on Saturday, followed by the 1500m and 5000m on Sunday. 

In both the Sprint and the Allround tournaments the final ranking is based on the so-called 'samalog' score over four distances. The 'samalog' system converts times into points, with the 500m as the starting point. For a 500m race, the number of seconds counts as the number of points. For the 1000m the number of seconds is divided by two to calculate the number of points; for the 1500m it’s divided by three, for the 3000m by six, for the 5000m by 10 and for the 10,000m by 20.

For all information about the ISU European Speed Skating Championships, please visit the webpage here. 

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