Dutch skaters snatch two gold and one bronze on first day of skating championships

Dutch skater Jutta Leerdam continued her winning streak in the 1,000 meters at the World Cup competitions in Obhiro, Japan. Femke Kok finished third in the first 500 meters. The Dutchmen finished next to the podium in the 1,000 and 500 meters. But Bart Hoolwerf won the first mass start in the World Cup.

Leerdam was happy that she again won the 1,000 meters, though she did it “on autopilot.” The 24-year-old world champion’s mind is elsewhere due to family circumstances. “Something about health, which is not going well in my family,” she told NOS. “It was a difficult day. But I’m happy I won.”

“With the stress and the tension, it is not very nice,” said Leerdam. “I’ve had a really tough week. I’m always on the verge of tears, and then I keep going. Before I came here, I wondered what I was going to do here. But if I hadn’t performed here, I would have also felt bad.”

Leerdam said she was happy to have “ticked off” the victory, but that’s not what matters most to her right now. “I have to focus on my race. It also went wrong in the 500 meters, but it doesn’t really matter to me if I’m very honest.”

1,000 meters women

Leerdam, the 24-year-old world champion, was slightly faster with 1.14.57 than the Japanese Olympic champion Miho Takagi, who finished second in 1.14.68. The American Kimi Goetz came third with 1.14.75.

The Zuid-Holland woman defeated the American Brittany Bowe in her ride after she had failed in her first 500 meters in the World Cup earlier in the day. In particular, her first full lap of 26.97 was much faster than the competition.

Leerdam remained undefeated in the 1,000 meters last season. She won all five World Cup races she rode, the 1,000 meters at the European Sprint Championships and the national champions, and at the end of the season won the title in the kilometer for the second time in her career.

Femke Kok was defeated by Goetz in her ride. She achieved 1.15.22 and finished fourth.

Marit Fledderus competed against a fellow countrywoman. She was faster than Helga Drost with 1.16.55. Drost achieved 1.18.82 and finished 19th. Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong was defeated by Takagi in the final stage and achieved a time of 1.17.53, placing her 16th.

Mass start

Bart Hoolwerf, 25, defeated Olympic and world champion Bart Swings from Belgium and Livio Wenger from Switzerland after 16 laps in the sprint.

The skaters had let Viktor Hald Thorup ride far ahead. Marcel Bosker did a lot of work to keep the Dane in sight, and the sprinters accelerated in the last two laps to catch up. Hoolwerf, second behind Swings at the World Championships last year, stayed well in the wake of the Belgian and placed his final jump late. He crossed the finish line just before Swings and Wenger. Bosker finished 13th.

“It was not a textbook sprint, but it was good enough,” Hoolwerf told NOS. “The moment I threw my foot forward, I knew I had it.”

The marathon skater from Reggeborgh said he wanted to become a permanent fixture in the mass start but also in the team pursuit. “I can also be a good force in that area,” said Hoolwerf, who has also been drafted by national coach Rintje Ritsma for Saturday’s team pursuit.

500 meters women

Femke Kok, the 23-year-old world champion, had to tolerate two American skaters in front of her with a time of 37.93. Kimi Goetz was the fastest with 37.82 ahead of Erin Jackson.

Kok defeated Kim Min-sun in her ride. The South Korean won five of the six World Cup races in the 500 meters last season and was now beaten with 37.99.

Leerdam was comprehensively defeated in her ride by Olympic champion Erin Jackson. After misses in the first corner, she came to 38.43 and finished tenth. Jackson won in 37.89, good for second place.

Naomi Verkerk was defeated in the final stage by the American Goetz. With 38.43 she was slightly faster than Leerdam and finished ninth.

Fledderus rode her first ride in the World Cup against compatriot Dione Voskamp. Fledderus set 38.24, good for the eighth fastest time. Voskamp achieved 38.65 and finished 15th.

1,000 meters men

The Dutch men finished next to the podium in the 1,000 meters. Kjeld Nuis was the best Dutchman with 1.08.84. He finished fourth but later reported a disqualification that would put him up one place in the rankings. The official rankings have not yet been adjusted.

Nuis competed against fellow countryman and teammate Jenning de Boo. The 2018 Olympic champion in the kilometer was just behind the times of the surprising Japanese Masaya Yamada (1.08.35) and the Chinese Zhongyan Ning (1.08.54).

In the final stage, the American Jordan Stolz fell below Nuis’ time. The reigning world champion remained third fastest with 1.08.78. His opponent, Tijmen Snel, already saw his start fail and set the 20th and final time with 1.10.78.

De Boo finished 19th in his World Cup debut with 1.09.31. Teammate Tim Prins was one-hundredth of a second slower and finished 12th.

Earlier in the day, Janno Botman had finished 7th in the 1,000 meters in the B group.

500 meters men

The Dutch men also fell out of the medals in the 500 meters. Hein Otterspeer was the best Dutchman in fourth place with 34.89. Japanese Tatsuya Shinhama won with a time of 34.52 ahead of his compatriots Wataru Morishige and Yuma Murakami.

Otterspeer was better in his ride than Yevgeniy Koshkin from Kazakhstan, who opened quickly but was clearly slower in the lap. After that, he only saw the three Japanese sprinters dip below his time.

Kai Verbij was comprehensively defeated in his ride by the Japanese Morishige. The 29-year-old Zuild-Holland man, who had a serious crash in the 1,000 meters during the qualifying tournament at the end of October in Thialf, rode 35.64 and finished 18th. Morishige came to 34.69. Only Shinhama was faster than that.

Sebas Diniz crashed on his debut in the World Cup. In the last stage against world champion Stolz, the 21-year-old sprinter from Borne crashed in the last corner. Stolz finished sixth with 34.91.

Merijn Scheperkamp also remained far from the best time. He was defeated by the Canadian Laurent Dubreuil and achieved the 15th fastest time of 35.44.

Janno Botman rode 35.26 earlier in the day in the B group. That placed him third, and he can start in the A group in the next 500 meters. Verbij and Diniz have to ride their next 500 meters in the B Group.