Femke Kok (NED) entered unknown territory at the ISU World Cup in Salt Lake City on Sunday. The Dutchwoman stopped the clock at 36.09s in the 500m, chopping 0.27s off the longest-standing speed skating World Record in an Olympic distance. She achieved the feat exactly 12 years to the day that Sang-Hwa Lee (KOR) had skated 36.36s at the same track. “This is bizarre,” Kok smiled in disbelief.

Before Kok’s explosion, Japan won the women’s Team Pursuit and Mia Manganello Kilburg (USA) closed off the day with her career-first World Cup victory in the Mass Start.

Kok and Jackson enter unknown territory

Kok has been viewing footage of Lee’s legendary record race for over four years, but only after the first 500m on Saturday did the triple World Champion think that 36.36s was within her range. 

After she had clocked a big personal best of 36.48s in the first race, Kok said: “Lee’s opener was 10.09s. My start wasn’t flawless.”

On Sunday she started in the final pair versus Olympic champion Erin Jackson (USA) and she had been closely watching the earlier pairings in which no one was able to go under 37s.

“I saw some girls going faster than yesterday and some slower, so I thought if they can go faster, I have to go faster too,” Kok said.

Both Kok and Jackson were faster than Saturday in their openers, Jackson setting 10.28s and Kok 10.29. 

“I saw 10.2 on the US coach’s sign at the crossing straight,” Kok said. “And I was in front so I knew that I must have been faster.”

In the full lap, Kok kept her composure and watched the scoreboard in disbelief as she crossed the line.

An emotional Femke Kok (NED) takes in what she has just achieved in breaking Sang-Hwa Lee's 12-year-old 500m World Record. © ISU

“I’ve dreamt about this for so long. I usually don’t get emotional easily, but this hit me,” she admitted.

“It’s so much better than yesterday and such a big chunk off the record.

“I’ve seen Lee’s World Record race so many times, I even watched it this morning. She [Lee] just skated so calmly, and I thought, I shouldn't get worked up. I did that a bit yesterday at the start, but this time I didn’t and it went a lot better. I felt more powerful than yesterday.”

Her power and composure led Kok to a speed she had never generated in a race before, and into unknown territory.

“I got out the first corner a bit high up, because I had a lot of pressure on my legs, since I’m used to that speed. I thought, I'm either riding well, or I'm not getting it at all.

“I have to watch that race back to see if there’s anything I could have done better, it’s hard to tell because I’ve never done it before, 25.9s, I think this might be the fastest full lap ever skated.”

Her finishing time of 36.09s even raises the possibility of breaking the 36-second barrier. 

“[Lee] was one tenth of a second faster in the opener, so it’s still possible to improve,” Kok said.

“But now it’s back to reality, because we fly out to Calgary tonight [for the second World Cup next weekend] and I still have to do training before that."

Erin Jackson (USA) also set a big personal best as she tried to keep up with Kok in the final pairing. © ISU

Behind Kok, Jackson also set a big personal best of 36.57s. She too had experience the strange sensation of entering unknown territory during the race. 

“On the backstretch, I felt a little strange, and I guess looking back, probably because I was going faster than I ever had. So I was trying to keep up with my feet," she said.

“It was nice. I feel like my second corner, the second inner, I didn't really have much trouble, so that’s nice.”

Jackson had enjoyed being part of a legendary race.

“It's really cool that the records are falling, because I think it just shows the advancement in the sport, and I feel like we've been kind of stagnant for a long time. So it's really cool to see people going this fast. 

“It's great. I mean, I'm chasing Femke now, so it's nice to see what she's doing, and then hopefully I'll not be too far.”

Lee Na-Hyun (KOR, right) joined Jackson and Kok on the podium to pick up her first ISU World Cup medal. © ISU

On Sunday, Kok and Jackson were way ahead of the rest, Lee Na-Hyun (KOR) celebrating her first career podium in third place with a time of 37.03s.

Japan back on top in Team Pursuit

In the women’s team pursuit, Japan took their first World Cup gold since December 2023. Joined by youngster Hana Noake, veterans Miho Takagi and Ayano Sato skated a time of 2 minutes and 52.13s to leave Olympic Champions Canada (Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin, Valérie Maltais) 0.27s behind.

The United States (Brittany Bowe, Mia Manganello Kilburg, Greta Myers) took bronze in 2:54.01.

Japan beat World Champions the Netherlands in a head-to-head battle. With Elisa Dul replacing Marijke Groenewoud alongside regulars Joy Beune and Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong, the orange train fell apart after a strong start and the Dutchwomen had to settle for fifth place.

Japan pipped Olympic Champions Canada to gold in the Team Pursuit, USA taking bronze on home ice. © ISU

Japan’s anchor Takagi was cautious in victory.

“Of course we are happy with this result, but the Netherlands didn’t skate in their strongest line-up,” she said.

“And we are also still two seconds off the World Record [set by Japan in 2020] so I think we can be better. We want to and we have to, but this win gives us a lot of confidence and motivation.”

Canada also drew confidence from their strong performance. 

“We like the fact that it's never perfect, that we can always clean stuff up. When we finished we were like, okay, we could have gone faster,” Weidemann explained.

“We changed the strategy around a lot. We played a lot around this summer and we skated a lot more together, something we haven't done in the last four years. After the Games, we all went in different directions with coaches, so now, we really made it a priority to work on our weaknesses. 

“This was the first time we've used that [new] strategy in a race, so I think we have to trust it a little bit more. We know it's fast now.”

Manganello ecstatic after first Mass Start win

Mia Manganello Kilburg (USA) concluded the women’s program in Salt Lake City with her career first ISU World Cup victory.

Momoka Horikawa (JPN)  set up a four-woman breakaway with Valérie Maltais (CAN), Bente Kerkhoff (NED) and Manganello Kilburg.

The four put themselves in place to fight for the three podium spots, but it was the initiator of the breakaway that was left empty-handed. Manganello-Kilburg edged out Maltais for first place and Kerkhoff seized the bronze. 

Mia Manganello Kilburg (USA) was ecstatic as she final seized ISU World Cup Mass Start gold in what is expected to be her final season on the ice. © ISU

Manganello was ecstatic. 

“Holy cow, yeah, there was a lot of emotions crossing that line, that victory lap,” she said. 

After having already been one of the regular top-finishers in the Mass Start for a decade, Manganello finally took gold in what she says is going to be her final season.

“I’ve had a lot of years and a lot of fourth places. Honestly, it's a bit surreal, but it's a moment that I have been dreaming about for a very long time, and to be able to do it here in the USA, in front of family and friends on an Olympic year, it's been a whirlwind for me, a roller coaster of emotions.”