SPEED SKATING
Team Sprint women win historic first gold medal for Poland in Tomaszów Mazowiecki
23 Feb 2025
Kaja Ziomek-Nogal, Andzelika Wójcik and Karolina Bosiek finally brought it home for Poland. On the final day of competition at the Arena Lodowa, the Team Sprint squad won an historic first Polish gold World Cup medal in Tomaszów Mazowiecki. The home skaters also secured the Team Sprint World Cup Trophy in the final race of the season. Before the home celebrations, Marijke Groenewoud (NED) sealed the Mass Start Trophy with a confident victory in the bunch sprint, while a resurgent Erin Jackson (USA) took her second 500m gold of the weekend.
Polish sprinters deliver gold in front of home crowd
With Andzelika Wójcik launching the three stage rocket, the Polish team set off at the highest pace of the field in the Team Sprint race. Kaja Ziomek-Nogal pulled through in second position and Karolina Bosiek maintained the lead in the third and final lap to complete the race in a time of one minute and 28.07s.
In six previous World Cup events at the Arena Lodowa, no polish skater or team had ever managed to win gold in an A Division race.
“It’s really amazing,” Ziomek-Nogal smiled. “Today with the crowd in a full stadium, it’s was great to win here in Poland.”
Andzelika Wójcik leads the Polish Team Sprint trio to a historic gold ahead of Kaja Ziomek-Nogal (red band) and Karolina Bosiek (yellow). © ISU
Having come second in the first two Team Sprint races this World Cup season, Poland topped the ranking going into the race. The expectations were high, but the Polish women used it to their advantage.
“It’s easier to cope with the pressure in a team race [opposite to an individual race], we’re out there supporting each other,” said Ziomek-Nogal.
“We like each other and we had a very good atmosphere going into the race.”
After two silvers in the first two Team Sprints, Poland also won the World Cup Trophy. Canada, left, and the Netherlands, right, took silver and bronze on the day. © ISU
Canada’s Carolina Hiller, Bëatrice Lamarche and Ivanie Blondin (CAN) took silver in 1:28.30, and the Dutch trio of Marrit Fledderus, Naomi Verkerk and Suzanne Schulting (NED) seized bronze in 1:28.46.
Canada finished second in the World Cup ranking, with Kazakhstan sealing the season’s bronze medal.
Jackson doubles up in 500m to take Trophy lead
Before their Team Sprint triumph, Ziomek-Nogal, Wójcik and Bosiek started Sunday’s action individually in the second 500m of the weekend.
Just like they had done in the first race on Friday, Erin Jackson (USA) and Suzanne Schulting (NED) took gold and silver.
While on Friday none of the skaters managed to stay under 38 seconds, both Jackson and Schulting broke that barrier on Sunday with times of 37.81s and 37.92s respectively.
Erin Jackson (USA) won her second 500m of this World Cup weekend, improving on her time from Friday to keep Suzanne Schulting (NED) at bay once again. © ISU
Jackson’s race had not gone completely according to plan, however.
“My opener was a bit slower than I wanted,” she admitted. “I was talking to my coach before the race saying, I want to see a 10.4 on the board today, and then I went the other direction and got a 10.6 [after Friday’s 10.5], but I made up for it in the lap.”
Schulting’s race had been the opposite of her American rival’s.
“I had a good opener, a good back-stretch it’s just the entrance of the last corner where I had to skip a stroke because it didn’t really fit, but still, it was just a very good race,” said the Dutch skater.
Friday’s bronze medal winner Ziomek-Nogal did not manage to improve on her previous time and fell off the podium, giving way to Wójcik, who upped her game to take bronze in 38.06s.
“All I cared about when I crossed the finish line was if I’d taken a medal. That was important for me,” Wójcik said.
Schulting (NED, left) won her third medal of the weekend while Andzelika Wójcik (POL, right) picked up a home bronze but lost her rankings lead to Jackson. © ISU
Wójcik skated in the last pairing against Jackson, which gave her an extra push.
“I knew it would be hard to win with Jackson, because she's fast. She knows when and where to push. It helped me, because even if I made some mistakes, I knew I could fight against her and try to win at the last straight.”
Despite winning the bronze medal, Wójcik couldn’t hold onto the lead in the 500m World Cup ranking. Jackson took over the top position, with Wójcik trailing by 10 points going into the last two races in Heerenveen next weekend.
Jackson had not expected to be in pole position to win the World Cup Trophy after a season of ups and downs but is delighted with her resurgence.
“It's just been placements all over the board for the women [this season],” she said.
“So it's kept kind of open, because I know I had a last place finish in there when I just went easy in Calgary [due to her back injury], so I thought I would be out of the room completely, but it's nice that it's coming together and hopefully I can hold on to that.”
Groenewoud wins Mass Start Trophy
Marijke Groenewoud (NED) won her fourth gold medal in five Mass Start races this season, securing her career first World Cup Trophy in the process.
“Four out of five, yes, that feels good,” said the Dutch skater. “I can trust on my Mass Start results, that’s comfortable.”
Groenewoud held off Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) and Ivanie Blondin (CAN) in the bunch sprint. The Italian and the Canadian took silver and bronze respectively.
Marijke Groenewoud (NED) made it four wins in five Mass Start races this World Cup season, securing her career first World Cup Trophy as a result. © ISU
Groenewoud said the race panned out perfectly for her.
“There were some people who wanted to attack, but there was a lot of energy in the group and everyone chased everyone so I got the feeling that the pack would stay together, so I saved my energy for the sprint.
“In the final lap three skaters attacked, but Elisa [teammate Elisa Dul (NED)] had kept the pace high, so I had to finish it off.”
Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA, left) and Ivanie Blondin (CAN, right) lost out to Groenewoud in the final sprint, but the Canadian accused her rivals of irregular contact. © ISU
Blondin was angry because she felt that she had been irregularly touched by both Lollobrigida and Groenewoud, but Groenewoud saw it differently.
“Last year in Quebec, Blondin leaned into me [in the final corner], and she put her foot in front of mine. I feared that it might happen again, so I held my hand out a bit wide to hold her off,” she said.
“If I hadn’t, I would have hit her foot and crashed out of the race. In my opinion, nothing really happened.”
Tomaszów Mazowiecki program
The Tomaszów Mazowiecki ISU World Cup Speed Skating will start with the first of two 500m races and the 1500m for both genders on Friday. Saturday’s program comprises the 3000m for women, the 5000m for men and the 1000m for both genders, while on Sunday both genders will skate the second 500m, and the Mass Start, to conclude with the Team Sprint.
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series events 2024/25:
Nov 22 - 24, 2024 Nagano / JPN
Nov 29 - Dec 01, 2024 Beijing / CHN
Jan 24 - 26, 2025 Calgary CAN
Jan 31 - Feb 02, 2025 Milwaukee / USA
Feb 21 - 23, 2025 Tomaszów Mazowiecki / POL
Feb 28 - Mar 02, 2025 Heerenveen / NED
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