#SpeedSkating

Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong (NED) seized her fourth consecutive Allround title at the ISU European Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen (NED), edging a tight battle with World Champion Joy Beune (NED) which went down to the final event. Defending a 5.77s gap in the 5000m, Rijpma-De Jong hung on by the skin of her teeth as Beune gradually skated away from her opponent. At the finish line, Rijpma-De Jong had 1.19s spare to win the title. Norway’s Ragne Wiklund completed a weekend of playing catch-up on the podium with the bronze medal safely around her neck.

Beaune claws back 0.09s in 1500m

On Saturday, Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong (NED) had been the only woman in the Allround field to skate the 500m inside 39 seconds, when she stopped the clock at 38.50s to take a 0.81s lead over second-placed Joy Beune (NED).

Both in the 3000m on Saturday and in Sunday’s 1500m, Beune did everything she could to reduce the deficit to the title holder, but Rijpma-De Jong defended her lead with everything she had. 

Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong (NED), left, set a ferocious pace in the 1500m, leading Allround title rival Joy Beune (NED), right, until the final back-stretch. © ISU

Starting from the inner lane against Beune in the 1500m, Rijpma-De Jong attacked ferociously, taking a 0.47s lead at the 300m split. Beune took up the challenge and went along with her rival’s pace. At the final back-stretch she had the advantage of the draft, which gave her the opportunity to edge out Rijpma-de Jong by 0.09s on the finish line. 

Beune finished in a time of one minute and 54.60s against 1:54.69s for Rijpma-De Jong.  

“A great fight,” Rijpma-De Jong reflected on the 1500m race. “My start was good, but then she’s able to chase me on that final back-stretch, which is an advantage in a race like this of course.”  

Beune was content to have won the 1500m and to have set herself a target of 5.77s to make up in the 5000m to clinch the title.

Rijpma-De Jong fights for every inch in finale 

“It’s going to be exciting,” said Beune ahead of the final face-off. “Antoinette [Rijpma-De Jong] is a fighter and she can hang in.”

Rijpma-De Jong had to defend a 5.77s lead in the final race, the 5000m, knowing Dutch champion Beune would pile on the pressure. © ISU

And exciting it was. Beune tried everything she could to put the pressure on Rijpma-De Jong, but the defending champion refused to crack. 

“Four laps into the race, I thought s**t,” Rijpma De Jong said. 

“And, with four laps to go, I thought: if I keep attacking every inner corner and manage to maintain the gap as it is, it will be all right. 

“But then, with one lap to go, it was very tight. I looked at my coach and I thought it doesn’t have to be smooth, if it’s ugly, so be it, but I have to step on the gas.

“When I crossed the line, I was so emotional. I never thought I would make it.”

It was an emotional fourth European Allround title for Rijpma-De Jong, and her performances put to rest any doubts over her ability in the longer distances. © ISU

Rijpma-De Jong had finished third behind Merel Conijn (NED) and Beune at the Dutch national championships just two weeks ago. Having focused more on the shorter distances than on Allround skating lately, she had serious doubts about her ability in the longer distances. 

“Those longer distances are becoming more difficult for me, but yesterday’s 3000m gave me hope.

“In the 1500m, I wanted to win some seconds, but then I saw the difference of 5.7s for the 5000m and I just thought: fight for every inch.”

Beune completed the 5000m in 6:57.55 to come third in the distance, while Rijpma-De Jong took fifth place in 7:02.13.

“I really wanted to win this [title], it was very close, so this one hurts a lot,” Beune commented. 

A disappointed Beune paid tribute to Rijpma-De Jong's fighting spirit and said she had given her all over the two days of competition. © ISU

“I don’t feel like I’ve left anything on the ice. Maybe my 3000m could have been a little better yesterday, but I skated a very good 1500m and I did what I could in the 5000m, but she [Rijpma-De Jong] is a fighter and I just couldn’t make the difference.”  

Wiklund wins 5000m and battle for bronze 

In the same way as Beune had been playing catch-up with Rijpma-De Jong after the 500m, so Ragne Wiklund (NOR) had chased Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) in the battle for the third podium spot overall. But unlike Beune, the Norwegian eventually managed to overhaul her prey.  

Wiklund had already gained time back on the Italian in winning the 3000m on Saturday, and she took back another chunk of time when she beat Lollobrigida by over a second to come third in the 1500m. 

With a time of 1:56.39, Wilklund took third place in Sunday’s shorter distance, ahead of Lollobrigida, who finished fourth in 1:57.19. Going into the final 5000m, Lollobrigida had an advantage of just 0.37s to defend.

In the decisive 5000m, Wiklund left no room for doubt, winning the distance in 6:50.81 to become the first Norwegian woman ever to win a medal at the European Allround championships.

Ragne Wiklund (NOR) overhauled Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) in the final race to take bronze, the first European Allround medal for a Norwegian woman. © ISU

Wiklund thought her medal, and more importantly her country’s gold and silver medals in the men’s Allround tournament, could give speed skating a boost in Norway. 

“It’s really impressive, and I think it's a sign that we're in a new area of speed skating in Norway. We have lots of young talents coming up,” she commented.

Although Wiklund was happy to take bronze, she had actually aimed a little higher beforehand.

“Before [the tournament], I thought it would be possible to also fight for the top two spots, but then in the 500m I actually had the false start, but the starter didn't see it. I was actually about to stand up when I realised I had to skate on and I had a really stressful race after that.

“[After the 500m mistake] I was still hoping for the podium, but I knew I had to do three really good races.

“In the end, I’m happy with the podium, because it could just as well have been fourth place today.”

Rijpma-De Jong celebrates her fourth European Allround title alongside Beune (left) and Wiklund (right). © ISU

Lollobrigida (ITA) eventually dropped to fifth place because Conijn climbed to fourth after taking second place in the final 5000m with a time of 6:52.43. 

Lollobrigida was content with fifth overall. “I have been down with a virus in December and I didn’t skate for 10 days, so I’m happy with where I stand at the moment,” she explained.

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. 

Rijpma-De Jong and Men's Allround champion Sander Eitrem (NOR) enjoy the traditional celebratory sleigh ride round around the Thialf track. © ISU

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. 

Where to watch