#SpeedSkating

Momoko Horikawa (JPN) won her first international title at senior level at the ISU Four Continents Championships in Hachinohe City on Saturday. The 2023 World Junior Champion left three strong Canadians behind to seize 3000m gold in front of a home crowd at the YS Arena. Earlier on Saturday, Erin Jackson (USA) retained her Four Continents 500m title.  

Horikawa does it her own way

When Momoka Horikawa (JPN) took the ice in the penultimate pairing versus Yuka Takahashi (JPN), Canada’s golden Olympic Team Pursuit squad occupied all three spots on the provisional podium, with Isabelle Weidemann on top, Ivanie Blondin second, and defending champion Valérie Maltais third.

Weidemann had skated a very flat race, keeping all her lap times between 32.0 and 32.6 seconds to finish in 4:08.06. Blondin, who raced against Maltais, started out faster, but finished an agonising 0.03s short of Weidemann after conceding more than a second on the final lap.

Horikawa started at an even higher pace than Blondin, building up a 3.21s lead over Takahashi at the 1800m split, only to see her lap times slip to over 33 seconds towards the end. Eventually she finished in 4:01.89, holding on to a 1.12s lead over Weidemann.

A blistering early pace guided Momoka Horikawa (JPN) to her maiden senior gold medal in a competitive 3000m © ISU

“I had a really good condition, so I decided to skate my own race, and not bother about anyone else,” Horikawa explained. 

“I decided to go out full power, but it didn’t last until the end. But I’m in a good shape, so I could maintain the advantage and it was a good challenge to try it this way.”

Winning the Four Continents title, after already having won the Japanese 5000m title in Nagano three weeks ago, gives Horikawa a lot of confidence going into the fresh international season. 

“After the Japanese National Single Distance Championships my condition has improved. This is a very good start to build upon for the rest of the season.

“My goal is to be on the podium, and hopefully win gold at the World Single Distance Championships 3000m and 5000m in March.”

Weidemann rediscovers race feeling

Second-placed Weidemann also took confidence from her outing at the YS Arena, coming as it did off a lackluster 2023/24 season. 

“Last year I had some mishaps, for sure. I got sick and a little burnt out, from the Olympics and the season after that. I didn't take a lot of time to myself,” she admitted.

Horikawa shared the podium with Candian pair Isabelle Weidemann (left) and Ivanie Blondin (right), who picked up her third medal in Hachinohe City © ISU

“Every speed skater has probably felt it at some point, the feeling of not wanting to race and feeling not powerful, like things aren’t clicking on the ice. I definitely felt that at not a very convenient time last year. I hope it's in the past. I feel a lot stronger. I feel ready to race again.

“I trained a lot [in the summer], but I had a lot of fun too. I did a lot of different things. Sometimes we get really stuck on the bike or doing the same things over and over. This year I tried to switch it up and have fun and do different things.

“This was my first race of the year, so I don't know if I can really, totally read into it too much, but I hope that it's an indication of the trend of the year.”

Weidemann was especially happy to see her team mates Blondin and Maltais doing well too. 

“The three of us were just chatting in the change room afterwards.  We haven't all raced very much this year, so to see that the three of us are very close, that we're all fit, that we're all right there, is exciting for our team pursuit, and it's also good [individually]. We need some competitive [action].“

Jackson shakes off the rust

Before the women went out for their longest distance of the Four Continents weekend, Erin Jackson (USA) seized gold in the shortest event, the 500m. The Olympic Champion stopped the clock at 38.16 seconds.

Kurumi Inagawa (JPN) took silver in 38.26 and two-time Four Continents Champion Kim Min Sun (KOR) had to settle for bronze in 38.30s.

Erin Jackson (USA) seized gold by one-tenth of a second, but admitted she has a lot to work on after her first international race of the season © ISU

Jackson was excited to retain her Four Continents title, but doesn’t really feel at her best yet. 

“It's just the first race of the season, everyone's going to be shaking off some rust. I will just be excited to see what the rest of the world brings for the World Cups,” she said.

“It definitely feels good to be on the top spot, but I also know that there's a lot I need to fix from that race. So I keep it all in context.

“The start was OK, but it can always be better. [The rest of the race] just technically, especially the finishing straight, was a little rough.”

Inagawa had not really dared to dream of her first individual silverware at an international championships in Hachinohe City. 

“I was really tired, but I could get ready for the race,” she said.

“Until a week ago, I suffered from a back injury that I sustained in the summer. So I couldn’t do proper training up until October. Therefore I trained very hard last week and this result comes a bit as a surprise.”

Team Gold's Kim adds bronze to Friday's silver

Despite picking up her second medal of the weekend after silver in Friday's Team Sprint, bronze medalist Kim admitted to struggling with a change of training routine since joining the international Team Gold.

Kurumi Inagawa (JPN), left, took silver and Kim Min Sun (KOR) added bronze to Friday's Team Sprint silver as she adapts to life in Team Gold © ISU

“My race didn’t feel good. Many things changed [this season], everything is new,” she said.

“The Korea training style and Johan’s [Team Gold coach Johan de Wit (NED)] style are so different. 

“In Korea, I was more focused on weight training. Team Gold has many middle-distance skaters, so I did more endurance training this year. That's why I think I’m a little confused about my 500m, but I hope, and Johan and the other teammates hope that is getting better.”

Miho Takagi (JPN), who founded Team Gold together with Johan de Wit, said she was happy to have Kim and other strong skaters join the team this season, and the Korean sprinter agreed.

“I'm so happy too, because the team has many good skaters, so they inspire very much,” Kim added.

“We are really happy to train together, and I’m really looking forward to training together the whole season.”

ISU Four Continents Championships Program

The ISU Four Continents tournament starts with the Team Sprint followed by the 1500m for both genders on Friday. The Saturday program features the 500m for both genders, the women’s 3000m and the men’s 5000m, and on Sunday both genders will compete in the Team Pursuit and 1000m before the Championships close off with the Mass Start. 

Schedule & Where to Watch:

• Friday, November 15 - 14:00-16:22: Team Sprint Women Team Sprint Men 1500m Women 1500m Men
• Saturday, November 16 - 14:00 -17:27: 500m Women  500m Men 3000m Women  5000m Men
• Sunday, November 17 - 14:00-17:15: Team Pursuit Women Team Pursuit Men  1000m Women  1000m Men  Mass Start Women Mass Start Men

Where to Watch

For schedules and results of the ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships, please visit the event’s webpage.