"It's an amazing feeling to be on the highest podium in Poland," Kaja Ziomek-Nogal said. Together with Iga Wojtasik and Karolina Bosiek (pictured above), she started the European Championships in Tomaszów Mazowiecki with a track record and a gold medal in the Team Sprint.

Ragne Wiklund (NOR) won the 3000m title, beating her own 2023 track record by a two-second margin. Sandrine Tas seized her second silver of the day in the long distance after already having come second with Belgium in the Team Sprint.

Line-up changes make Poland better

After the Netherlands had crashed out in the first pairing, Poland took on Belgium in the second and final heat, leaving their opponents 5.58s behind in a time of one minute and 27.07s.

After having won the European title with Ziomek-Nogal, Bosiek and Andzelika Wójcik in 2022, Poland had come second at the 2024 Championships with a different line-up when Ziomek-Nogal was on maternity leave.

With Ziomek-Nogal back in the squad the coaching staff decided to field a different line-up again, this time with Wojtasik skating instead of Wójcik. 

"That was a decision by our Team Leader," Ziomek-Nogal explained. 

"It was based on the last races. We haven't changed the second and third position, and this line-up works well. We were a second faster than last year in the World Cup."

Kaja Ziomek-Nogal, Iga Wojtasik and Karolina Bosiek (POL, center) sport their Team Sprint gold medals alongside Belgian runners-up (left) and Germany (right) © ISU 

Poland were the only team in the competition comprised of pure sprinters. Belgian's Fran Vanhoutte, Isabelle van Elst and Tas normally skate the Team Pursuit instead of the Team Sprint, yet they went home with the first female silverware for Belgium in the history of the European Championships.  

"We hadn't planned to do this race," Tas explained, "but there were not so many teams and we considered it a good training in the run-up to the Team Pursuit at the Olympic Games. We call it a Team Pursuit at overspeed. 

"I skate with two real sprinters, while I'm a 3000m and 5000m skater. It was tough for me to stay with them in those first two laps and I didn't really manage it, but we still take home a silver medal."

Vanhoutte added: "It's the first time we started a Team Sprint and it was quite scary, but also fun to try." 

Fran Vanhoutte, Isabelle van Elst and Sandrine Tas turned their Pursuit skills to the Sprint and came away with Belgium's first female European Championships medal © ISU 

Germany's Anna Ostlender, Katja Franzen and Isabel Kraus also skated their first Team Sprint together. They took advantage of pair-mates the Netherlands crashing out.  

"When we saw [the Netherlands] crash, we thought: OK, we have to play it safe now to get on the podium,” Ostlender explained.

Frantzen added: "We had planned to go flat-out, because we knew it was going to be very difficult to make it to the podium in this field, but after the crash we went for safety first."

Fast start pays off for Wiklund

Long-distance World Cup leader Ragne Wiklund (NOR) left no room for doubt in the 3000m. Skating in the penultimate pairing versus Tas, she started at a staggering pace with a 19.53s opener and a 30.38s first lap. 

"That was a goal of mine," said Wiklund of her explosive start. "I feel like usually I'm a bit careful at least when I do international races, compared to, for example, the National Championships, where I don't have that much to lose. So my goal today was to just be a bit more aggressive.

"When I got that fast first lap, I didn't want to be too passive after that, so just continued building the corners and trying to relax a bit on the straights.

"I think I managed to keep it together, maybe one more lap than I thought, but then, the last two laps, I was really struggling."

Ragne Wiklund (NOR) set a staggering pace on the way to winning 3000m gold and claiming the Tomaszów Mazowiecki track record © ISU 

By then, Wiklund had already build a solid lead over Tas and Sanne in ’t Hof (NED), who had set the fastest time before the Norwegian and the Belgian took the ice. 

With a time of 4 minutes and 0.54s, Wiklund broke her own 2023 track record by 2.25s. 

Tas stopped the clock at 4:05.26, beating In 't Hof to silver.

The Belgian was not sure how to rate her silver medal performance, with some of the international top skaters absent.

"You can't beat the ones who're not here, and I skated a really good race myself,” she said.

“Wilund went out like a rocket, so I thought I’d started too slow, but then I saw my lap time [30.9s] and I knew that's just good on this track. So kept focusing on my tasks, which eventually led to a medal, so I'm really content.

"And I also beat renowned long-distance specialists such as Martina Sáblíková (CZE) and Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA), who won a long-distance World title last year. That proves I'm on the right track.

"I feel that there's still room for improvement, and I need to improve because at the Olympics in Milan, everyone will be at their best."

Sandrine Tas (BEL, left) picked up her second silver medal of the day. Sanne in ’t Hof (NED, right) won the bronze, her first international medal © ISU 

Sáblíková and Lollobrigida eventually finished fourth and fifth, because they were not able to beat In 't Hof’s mark of 4:05.91. The Dutchwoman was happy with the result after not making the Olympic team. 

"It's my first international medal and that feels good. I'm glad that I managed to regroup after the Olympic trials," she said.

"I was pretty much gutted. I just wasn't fit at the trials. Two days before the trials I felt off, all the energy had left my body and only two days ago, I felt better again. It's a physical thing, not mental. 

"This medal doesn't take away the pain, but it sure helps as a consolation. I'm proud to be able to pull it off."