The final day of the European Championships in Tomaszów Mazowiecki (POL) turned into a day of firsts for women skaters. After winning her first international championships medal in the 1500m on Saturday, Nikola Zdráhalova (CZE, pictured) upgraded to claim her career first European title in the 1000m on Sunday. 

In the Mass Start, Sofia Thorup (DEN) won her first long track silverware when she pipped Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) to the line for gold, and while the Netherlands had won all previous female European Team Sprint titles (2018, 2020, 2022, 2024), their fifth consecutive title was a first for all three team members.

Tight margins in the 1000m

Isabel Grevelt (NED) kicked off the 1000m without an opponent in the first heat, and her time of 1 minute 13.14s stood until Chloé Hoogendoorn (NED) finished 0.03s faster in the fifth pairing. Everyone else fell short of the two Dutchwomen except Nikola Zdráhalova (CZE).

Zdráhalova was 0.09s behind Hoogendoorn's time at the 600m split, but she was the only one to skate a sub-30-second lap to finish 0.28 ahead of the 21-year-old Dutch skater. 

Winning her first international title meant a lot to the 29-year-old Czech veteran. 

"I really can believe I got it,” she said.

Nikola Zdráhalova (CZE) takes in the applause of the Tomaszów Mazowiecki crowd as she collects the first international gold medal of her career © ISU

“I went to the ice and I saw the results of the Dutch skaters. After my silver medal yesterday, I hoped I could reach the podium again, but I didn't think about the gold. 

“I was trying to get in between the two Dutch girls. I just gave it everything in the last lap.

"When I crossed the line, at first I couldn’t find my ranking on the scoreboard, so it took me a little while to realize that I'd actually won."

Hoogendoorn had watched Zdráhalova's race closely, but she wasn't too disappointed, adding a silver medal to Saturday's 1500m bronze on her senior international debut.

"It's super close, but I think I just have to be really happy with my medal," she admitted.

"Before the race I was a bit more tense [than before Saturday's 1500m, because the 1000m is her favorite], but I had good faith. Maybe in that final lap I could have kept my pace a bit better, but I'm content overall."

Dutch skaters Chloé Hoogendoorn (left) and Isabel Grevelt (right) both won their second medals of the weekend in Sunday's 1000m © ISU

Grevelt had started the weekend with a crash in the Team Pursuit, but made amends with bronze in the 500m and finished the weekend on a high with another bronze. 

In fact she was lucky to skate the 1000m at all because she was called in as a substitute for Anna Boersma (NED), who pulled out at short notice. 

"I heard that I was going to skate the 1000m this morning, because Anna didn't feel good enough to skate. I had to shift gear quickly, and I was a little tired with two races in already, but in the end it went pretty well." 

Thorup surprises herself with Mass Start win

Sofia Thorup (DEN) was disappointed after finishing sixth in the 1000m, but she made amends in the Mass Start. 

After staying under the radar during the first 15 laps, the former short-track skater managed to pip Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) to the line on the finishing straight to take her career first international long track medal.

Short Track convert Sofia Thorup (DEN, right) pips Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA) to the line at the end of the Mass Start to take her first long track title © ISU

"It feels great," Thorup said. "I could only dream about this. 

“I was a little sad about my 1000m, because my goal was to take a medal in that event. I wasn't even planning to race the Mass Start at first. I only raced because one of my teammates didn't come here and she gave me a spot. 

"I only did one Mass Start this season, and after that one, I didn't want to do it anymore. I thought: I don't like this race, but then I just wanted to give it another shot here.

"So throughout the whole race, I just thought about saving as much energy as I could, and to be honest, I didn't care too much about the outcome. That's maybe why I didn't care so much about the breakaways. 

“Then, when I was in fifth or fourth position with half a lap to go, and I saw Francesca attack… I know she's the best in the Mass Start so I thought it's a good opportunity to follow her, get that speed and just try my best to the finish line."

Lollobrigida was not too disappointed with second place. 

"The Belgian ladies started the attack and I felt I couldn’t wait. It was just instinct,” she said.

"I'm happy to get a medal. This season hasn't been too good for me yet. Now at the Europeans I just wanted to find the right feeling and it was good."

Fran Vanhoutte (BEL, right) hung in after an early attack to take bronze behind Thorup and Lollobrigida © ISU

Behind Lollobrigida, Fran Vanhoutte (BEL) held on to the bronze medal after her early attack. After having won Team Sprint and Team Pursuit medals already, she was happy to add some individual silverware too.

"Our tactic was to put everything on the final sprint and try to be the first to attack, because it's always better to take the initiative instead of following the lead,” she revealed.

“But I was pretty tired already and then you need a lot of discipline to stick to the plan and attack first. 

"I was pretty tired that second last straight and when the Danish and the Italian girl passed me, it was a mental challenge to keep pushing, but I hung in and got the reward."

Dutch substitutes uphold winning tradition

In the Team Pursuit, Sanne in ’t Hof, Evelien Vijn and Kim Talsma filled the gaps Dutch regulars Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong, Joy Beune and Marijke Groenewoud left open while they prepare for the Olympic Games.

The improvised outfit still proved to be stronger than the rest of the field, however. The Netherlands clocked a time of 3 minutes and 1.35s, which was 2.62s faster than second-ranked Belgium (Fran Vanhoutte, Isabelle van Elst and Sandrine Tas) and 6.37s faster than bronze medalists Zofia Braun, Natalia Jabrzyk and Magdalena Czyszczon from Poland. 

(Left to right) Kim Talsma, Evelien Vijn and Sanne in ’t Hof stepped in seal a fifth consecutive European Team Pursuit title for the Dutch Women © ISU

Sanne 't Hof was surprised by the Dutch performance.

"For all three of us, it's the first European title," she said. "We haven't trained together much so we had to get used to each other's strokes, but after the first lap in, it felt like a well-oiled machine."

Belgian's Van Elst and Tas were content too.

"Of course, we came here for gold, but the Dutch ladies were really fast and I think this is the best we could do at this moment,“ admitted Van Elst.

Tas conceded: "Yet, despite the result, I think we could have skated better ourselves. If we want to do well in Milan, we have to improve."

Van Elst added: "You never know how a Team Pursuit pans out. This track was tough and for Fran and me, coming from the sprint distances, that's hard. We don‘t know what the track in Milan is going to be like, but with Sandrine we have a strong engine in the back."

Content with second, the Belgian team's thoughts turn towards Milan, while Poland's bronze medalists are planning for the next Olympic cycle © ISU

For Poland, the bronze medal meant a good first step into the future. The coaches decided to add Braun into the team alongside Jabrzyk and Czyszczon, instead of Natalia Czerwonka.

"We did not qualify for the Olympics, that's why we have some room to test different line-ups, and I think it's really a huge development, especially with me in the front,” said Braun.

"Natalia [Czerwonka] will be ending her career, so she will be out of this team, and we need to focus on the future and I'm only 18 years old."