#SpeedSkating

Nagano’s M-Wave is buzzing in the run-up to the first World Cup meeting of the season. The world’s best skaters look eager as they complete their final training laps. The 1998 Olympic Oval doesn’t offer the skaters the fastest ice in the world, but there are some prestigious track records at stake this weekend, especially in the longer distances. In the short and middle distances, the home crowd will hope for success from a strong Japanese contingent both on the men’s and the women’s sides.

Stolz sets the benchmark

Jordan Stolz (USA) is the benchmark in the men’s short and middle distances. The 500m, 1000m and 1500m World Champion clocked season best times at the sea level Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, USA, both of which were faster than the current Nagano track records.

Jordan Stolz (USA) is the man in form ahead of the first ISU Speed Skating World Cup event of the season in Nagano (JPN) © ISU

Jenning de Boo (NED) might be one of Stolz’s main rivals in the 500m. The 20-year-old Dutchman skated the season best so far at the shortest distance in 34.36s, which is 0.11s faster than his American peer this season, and 0.04s faster than the Nagano track record set by Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN) in October 2023.

Shinhama also holds the 1000m track record at M-Wave. Last week at the ISU Four Continents Championships the Japanese sprinter took 500m bronze and 1000m silver behind Stolz, with Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) seizing 500m silver and 1000m bronze.

The 32-year-old Canadian sees Shinhama and Stolz as the main World Cup favorites in the short distances. 

Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN) won two medals at last week's Four Continents Championships and will be one of Stolz's main rivals in the short distances © ISU

“Shinhama seems to be really good this year. He was good last year too, winning a few medals. And then this year, he set the [1000m] track record in Nagano, and then here [in Hachinohe], before Jordan beat him. So it's two of the guys, they might finish first and second. Who knows?” said Dubreuil.

Nuis and Ning the men in the middle

In the middle distances (1000m and 1500m) Stolz will also face competition from Ning Zhongyan (CHN) and Kjeld Nuis (NED). The 24-year-old Chinese skater defends both the 1000m and the 1500m World Cup trophy, and the 35-year-old Dutch veteran has a total of three 1500m and five 1000m World Cup trophies to his name already. 

Last season his urge to stay in contention for the 1000m World Cup trophy cost Nuis dearly. 

“In Salt Lake City [at the fifth World Cup event], I was not hundred percent, but I wanted to keep my points and position in the classification,” said Nuis.

“So I thought: just go for it. I still skated the 1000m in 1:06, but when I crossed the line, the lights went out.” 

Kjeld Nuis (NED) is determined to add to his collection of eight World Cup trophies in the 1000m and 1500m this season © ISU

Nuis crashed hard on the back of his head and barely recovered to be able to skate the World Single Distance Championships two weeks later.

“I learned to be more careful with my body”, he said. 

Nuis might be inclined to skip a World Cup event a little easier this season, which might make life a little easier for the likes of Stolz and Ning.  

Long-distance aces eye Kramer mark

The long-distance track records in Nagano date back a lot longer than those in the short distances. Sven Kramer (NED) skated a time of six minutes and 15.17s over 5000m back in 2016, and his 10,000m mark dates back even further, to 2008. The longest distance will not be contested in Nagano this season, but the 5000m mark seems to be the most likely to be broken. 

This season five men have already skated faster than Kramer ‘s 2016 mark. Chris Huizinga (NED) was the fastest in 6:06.72, followed by Davide Ghiotto (ITA), Beau Snellink (NED), Jorrit Bergsma (NED) and Bart Swings (BEL).

Bart Swings (BEL) is one of five skaters to have skated faster than Sven Kramer's (NED) eight-year-old 5000m Nagano track record already this season © ISU

Patrick Roest (NED) will be absent from Nagano. A fortnight before the Dutch World Cup trials the 5000m world champion had a wisdom tooth removed, and he was not able to skate as a result. Despite not having skated, the Dutch federation selected Roest for the Asian World Cup legs, but he chose not to skate because he has still not yet fully recovered.

Takagi track records look solid

On the women’s side, Miho Takagi (JPN) holds the 1000m, 1500m and 3000m track records in Nagano. Compared to the season best times in those distances, the M-Wave marks seem to be more solid than the men’s. Only the 3000m season best set by Marijke Groenewoud (NED) in Heerenveen was 0.94s faster than Takagi’s 3.59:81 in 2021. 

Miho Takagi (JPN) holds three track records at the Nagano M-Wave and travelled south early from Hochinohe City to prepare for this weekend's racing © ISU

The 500m track record set by the now retired Nao Kodaira (JPN) in 2017 is also faster than the season best time so far, set by both Erin Jackson (USA) in Salt Lake City, and Jutta Leerdam (NED) in Heerenveen.

Leerdam seems to be the women to beat in the women’s sprint distances this season, but she arrived late in Nagano after flying in from the United States where she attended the boxing match between her boyfriend Jake Paul and heavyweight legend Mike Tyson last weekend.

Takagi, for her part, travelled to Nagano early. The Olympic 1000m champion only skated the 1500m at the ISU Four Continents Championships in Hachinohe last Friday, winning gold before skipping the other distances in order to get more training time on the ice at the M-Wave.

Short-track legends join a new kid on the block 

The women’s short and middle distances will feature some new and interesting names this season. Short Track legends Suzanne Schulting (NED) and Arianna Fontana (ITA) will make their long track World Cup debuts. 

Short Track rivals Suzanne Schulting (NED), centre, and Arianna Fontana (ITA), right, are both making their long track World Cup debuts, but will not go head-to-head in Nagano © ISU

The three-time Olympic and 11-time World Short Track Champion Schulting skates the 500m and the 1000m. She decided to test the long track waters while she continues to recover from an ankle fracture sustained in March which has delayed her return to the short format.

Double Olympic Champion, World Champion and 12-time European champion Fontana will skate the 1500m, Team Pursuit and Mixed Gender Relay. The 34-year-old Italian wants to combine short track and long track at her home Olympics in Milan in 2026 before she concludes her career on the ice.

Another name to watch out for is Angel Daleman (NED). At 17 years of age, the 2023 and 2024 World Junior Champion managed to qualify for the 1000m and the 1500m ahead of a strong Dutch field in Heerenveen. Last season, Daleman not only won all individual events and the Allround classification at the ISU Junior World Championships, she also took Youth Olympic Gold in the 500m, 1000m and mass start events. She also competed in Short Track at the Youth Olympic Games, but did not manage to grab silverware in that discipline. 

World Junior Champion Angel Daleman (NED) has qualified for the 1000m and 1500m in Nagano and will bid to add a senior ISU medal to her junior haul © ISU

Nagano World Cup program

The Nagano World Cup will start with the women’s and men’s 500m, followed by the 1500m for both genders on Friday. The Saturday program comprises the women’s 3000m, the men’s 5000m and the 1000m for both genders, while on Sunday both genders will compete in the Team Pursuit, a second 500m, and the Mass Start, before competition concludes with the Mixed Gender Relay.  

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 

Where to watch

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