Going into the European Championships, Damian Zurek (POL) carried the weight of being favorite in his hometown of Tomaszów Mazowiecki, but he did not let anything distract him from skating the perfect 1000m race on the competition’s opening day. Zurek left the rest of the field far behind to take his first international title.

Before Zurek's 1000m exploit, Italy's Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti shattered the Team Pursuit track record to take gold ahead of the Netherlands and Norway. 

Zurek home and dry in 1000m

In the men's 1000m, Zurek was the only skater to set a time under 1 minute and 7 seconds. His 1:08.55 was just 0.13s off the track record Jordan Stolz (USA) set in Tomaszów Mazowiecki last year.

Zurek celebrated his gold medal with the home crowd.

"I'm super happy. I'm satisfied after all the hard work,” he said. 

“I'm also happy that I was close to the track record. I think the ice was not so good as last year [when Stolz skated his track mark], so maybe I can even beat that track record."

Damian Zurek (POL) displays his 1000m gold - his first international title - at his hometown rink in Tomaszów Mazowiecki © ISU 

Despite the stress of being the hometown favorite, Zurek managed to keep it together during his race.

"The stress was high but, I've been working on dealing with pressure this season. I can still be focused on my work and not let that stress distract me. Now I'm going to stay focused on the 500m [on Sunday afternoon]."

After Zurek had set his time, Tim Prins (NED) took the ice in the final pairing. The Dutchman was seeking consolation for missing out on the Dutch Olympic squad after the selection committee decided to choose Marcel Bosker (NED) over him to solidify the Dutch Olympic Team Pursuit team, despite the fact that Prins had qualified in the 1500m at the national trials in December.

With a time of 1:09.35, Prins took silver at a distant 0.80s from Zurek. The medal didn't soften the pain of missing out on the Olympics, however. 

"I haven’t got much feelings about this medal,” Prins admitted. 

“I'm far behind the winner, which means that he deserved it. This is the place where I belong, ahead of the others. But a Tim in great shape is able to compete with Zurek. I'm not in shape now and he is.

"My energy is low. I tried to build up to the race and hoped that the race would ignite my adrenaline level to break my own barriers, like when you're in top shape. But now it was just a struggle straight from the start and it's sheer willpower to reach that finish line. 

"I'm just proud I raced. I could also run away from races like these, but it's simple. If you don't qualify [for the Olympic Games] you have to shift focus for other races."

A disappointed Tim Prins (NED, left) took silver and Marten Liiv (EST, right) shook off training-camp sickness to take bronze © ISU 

Marten Liiv (EST) took bronze in 1:09.61. It was his second European Championships medal after 500m silver in 2024. 

"Looking at the result, it's OK, but I expected a little bit more to be honest,” he commented.

"It's a bit double-edged. I wasn't on the ice for 10 days, because I went to Spain for a training camp, and then I got sick there. I could train, but I couldn't do anything intensive, so we had a little bit of change in the program.

"I guess I'm just a little bit tired right now, because my opening and my first lap were pretty good, but after 600m I was really struggling. But it's always good to get a medal, especially now when the best skaters are not here, for me, it was a bigger chance to get a medal. That gives me some kind of confidence for the next races."

Perfect last test for Italy in Team Pursuit

Italy also built confidence for their next races, which in Team Pursuit will be at the Olympic Games in Milan, because there's no Team Pursuit race scheduled at the World Cup in Inzell (GER) later this month.

Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti (ITA) smashed the track record at the Arena Lodowa. With a time of 3 minutes and 40.96s, they were almost two seconds faster than Norway’s Sander Eitrem, Peder Kongshaug and Sverre Lunde Pedersen had been in 2023. 

Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti (ITA) smashed the track record in the Team Pursuit as they prepare for their home Olympic Games © ISU 

The Netherlands, who left the skaters in their Olympic line-up at home, came in second in 3:45.66 with an improvised team comprised of Louis Hollaar, Kars Jansman and Wisse Slendebroek. 

Norway, skating without absent anchor Eitrem, took bronze in 3:47.15. 

Italy's Malfatti was especially content with their execution on the Polish ice. 

"We trained a lot to keep our race pace steady over the past few days and it's been going really well. But training is different from racing. In a race there's more nerves, so it's good to have this one done," he said.

"We have great feelings about our teamwork and we're getting ready for the big one [the Milano Cortina Olympic Games]."

Jansman was happy to take silver. "Norway did not skate in their strongest formation, so that gave us a chanced to skate on the podium today, Italy had their strongest line-up and they set a fantastic time," he said.

"For me it's about four years ago that I skated a Team Pursuit and for the other guys too. If we train more on the Team Pursuit, we might have gone faster, but for now, this was the best we could do."

The Netherlands left their Olympic skaters at home but their teammates still took silver; Norway's new Pursuit combination won the bronze © ISU 

Kongshaug has skated more Team Pursuit races over the past four years, but not in a line-up with Didrik Eng Strand and Sigurd Henriksen. 

"We had a new combination today. We haven't really tried it and only trained together once,” he explained.

“With Sander not being here, we had to go for a new team. I think it was really good experience for the other guys, and then, of course, a bronze medal in a championship, you have to be excited about that."