SPEED SKATING
Wiklund (NOR) seals third consecutive long distance World Cup Trophy
01 Mar 2025
Ragne Wiklund (NOR) secured her third consecutive long-distance World Cup Trophy in style on Saturday. The Norwegian specialist beat Joy Beune (NED) and Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) in the 3000m to retain her title. In the 1000m, Jutta Leerdam (NED) took her first World Cup win of the season, beating Miho Takagi (JPN). The World and Olympic champion from Japan won silver and took home the 1000m World Cup Trophy after having already won the first five of this season's six 1000m races.
Painkillers keep Wiklund in pole position
At last week’s World Cup in Tomaszów Mazowiecki (POL), Ragne Wiklund (NOR) put herself in pole position to win the World Cup Trophy. Coming off the ice after winning the 3000m in Poland, however, she was suffering from back spasms and was taken away in a wheelchair.
In the run-up to the Heerenveen World Cup, Wiklund used painkillers to train, but during the race itself, the back injury didn’t seem to hamper her too much.
“It’s way better now,” Wiklund commented on her back problems: “But I’m looking forward to getting off the painkillers now.
“Yesterday [using the painkillers], I felt very disconnected to my feet, but I think at this speed [during the 3000m on Saturday], where I'm a bit more comfortable, I didn't think about it at all.”
Skating in the final pairing, the Norwegian set off at a faster pace than Joy Beune (NED) and Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA), who had already set the top two times.
Despite a little fatigue in the final lap, Wiklund managed to finish in a time of three minutes 57.41s to gain a 1.31s advantage over Beune. Lollobrigida came third in 3:58.89.
Ragne Wiklund (NOR) shrugged off the back pain that had troubled her since last week's World Cup to win the 3000m and seal a third long-distance Trophy. © ISU
“I knew after last weekend that my shape was good,” Wiklund said. “And I feel my endurance is really good, but then this week, not having a lot of sessions, I was kind of insecure going into this race.
“I wouldn't have believed that I would be able to skate this fast. I was a bit scared when I saw the first lap, but I have opened hard before, and I just wanted to try to go for it and see how long I would be able to keep the lap times.”
Beune was content to finish second and end up third in the long-distance World Cup ranking.
“This is my best 3000m of the season,” she said. “It’s a confidence boost for Hamar [Norweigan host of the World Single Distance Championships on 13-16 March]. In Hamar the conditions will be tougher and you see that Ragne is getting tired towards the end.
“I feel like I’m in a good position going forward. I’ll be tapering towards the World Championships and I’ll be even better than this.
“Ragne is good, Francesca is close behind and the Dutch girls are not too bad either, so it’s going to be an exciting battle in Hamar.”
Joy Beune (NED, left) took silver and Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA, right) the bronze on Saturday. The two finished third and second respectively in the overall ranking. © ISU
Lollobrigida was also looking forward to the World Championships.
“That’s my big goal for this season. Next year it’s the Olympic Games and I’m definitely going to quit speed skating after that, so [Hamar] will be my last World Championships. I’ve never won a medal at the World Championships yet, only fourth places, always fourth places.”
Finishing second in the long-distance ranking, Lollobrigida took her first podium in a season World Cup classification in a classic distance, after already having won the Mass Start ranking three times before.
Leerdam takes season first World Cup win
Jutta Leerdam (NED) made the difference in the first full lap to win 1000m gold. Despite something of an awkward change-up with pair-mate Han Mei (CHN) at the first back-stretch, the Dutch sprinter was the only woman to set a sub-27s lap time, clocking 44.61s at the 600m split.
Coming from the outer lap, Leerdam was a little coming onto the back-stretch.
“She crossed ahead of me, which is fine, but then I need space,” Leerdam explained. “She was next to me and that pushed me close towards the [inside] track markers. Instead of setting the corner up wide to accelerate, I had to keep it tight, which is awkward.
“I think I could’ve skated a 26.5s lap [instead of 26.78s].”
In the final lap Leerdam managed to keep Han at bay to record a time of one minute 14.27s. Her Chinese pair-mate was 0.53s slower to eventually grab bronze.
Jutta Leerdam (NED) celebrated her first World Cup victory of the season in the 1000m in front of her home crowd. © ISU
Miho Takagi (JPN) squeezed in between the two on the podium after stopping the clock at 1:14.49. It was Takagi’s first 1000m defeat this World Cup season, and thus also Leerdam’s first victory.
“It’s good to be back on top of the podium,” Leerdam said. “Of course, if I look at my shape, I would have wanted to skate faster, but apparently I didn’t need a faster race to win today, that’s also a good feeling.”
Despite finishing 0.22s behind Leerdam, Takagi wasn’t too worried about her form.
“Of course, my result wasn’t very good. I skated 1:14, and I also skated 1:14 [on the slower ice] in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, so I should have been faster here,” the Japanese skater shared.
“Then again she [Leerdam] was very fast today. I need to improve and I’m thinking about how to adjust between my 1500m and 1000m.
“Also it was a bit of a disadvantage to skate the 1500m last night [Leerdam did not skate the 1500m]. It’s a short turnaround getting back on the ice this morning.”
Miho Takagi (JPN, left) faced defeat for the first time in the 1000m this World Cup but still took home the distance Trophy. Han Mei (CHN) won bronze. © ISU
Han did not mind the quick turnaround too much. “This morning I skated the 3000m in the B Division as a warm-up,” she said.
The 27-year-old from China cherished her bronze medal, and she was also happy to finish third in the World Cup ranking, behind Takagi and runner-up Brittany Bowe (USA), who finished sixth on Saturday.
“It’s pretty good,” Han said. “Finally, I got a good result, In the beginning [of the season] I wasn’t very good, but now I have more confidence.”
Heerenveen program
The Heerenveen ISU World Cup Speed Skating will start with the first of two 500m races and the 1500m for both genders on Friday, February 28th, 2025. The program on Saturday March 1st comprises the 1000m for both genders, followed by the 3000m for women and the 5000m for men. On Sunday March 2nd, both genders will skate the Team Pursuit, the second 500m, and the Mass Start, before the event 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
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