Dennis

Van Veenendaal is the MVP here. Glad we survived the first half.

Wrong flag?

The top 3 in Group A is very clear to me ( ), with and battling it out for the last spot in the Round of 16. That's really a toss-up for me, as I think they could all take that final spot. Group B: and are of course the biggest favorites. is a clear number 3 for me after their good performance this year in the Nations League. I don't think stands any change, so and will battle it out for that fourth place. Group C is obviously the weakest here, with not performing as well as they back in 2016 and 2017, although they should still finish 2nd. I don't see any serious threat for in that group, they seem to be the clear group winners to me, whereas is the clear number 6 here in my opinion. That means and will battle for third and fourth place. and are the clear favorites in Group D, but perhaps could surprise them here. They have shown good results against weaker teams, but I think they're ready to make the next step. Surprised to see that even qualified for this tournament. They should be happy with any win. I put over for 4th place in this group because of home advantage and the slightly better results in the past year.

I have to agree with your picks. What I predict: Group A: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Group B: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Group C: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Group D: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Semis: vs. and vs. Final: vs. Winner: Notes: I actually think deserves a medal here, but because of the draw, they will most likely meet in the quarter finals, and I think will win that matchup, although I believe they are currently stronger than both and . will most likely meet in the quarter finals, that's why I don't predict them to make the semis either, although I believe they are stronger than at the moment.

The Netherlands are already in the final with one more match to play. Italy and Great Britain will determine who will be the second finalist.

had to play the UEFA play-offs to qualify for this World Cup, and now they're in the final. The Dutch women been undefeated in big tournaments since the 1/8th final loss against Japan in 2015, as they won 6 matches in a row at Euro 2017 winning their first major title, after debuting in 2009 (semi-finals) and playing in 2013 (finishing last in their group), and now another 6 wins in a row at this World Cup in only their 2nd appearance ever. And now they will also debut at the Olympic Games. They've grown so much in such a short period of time.

Better team lost today. Japan deserved more.

Undeserved penalty in my opinion. was/is the better team as well.

First time ever qualifies for a European Championships after beating Latvia today. Was quite surprised by this fact, especially when you consider that the women made at least the semis in all large championships during the past 4 years.

Vélo tout terrain

This was such a crazy night. I watched the match in a night club with 2000 other people. My clothes are soaked in beer, the vibe was amazing. I will remember this night for the rest of my life.

Then they’ll play against during the next World Championships. Who would’ve predicted that?!

Surprisingly good championships for so far. Didn’t think they would be in the race for promotion after they promoted to this division last year.

Big update after the World Allround Championships in Calgary and the World Cup Final in Salt Lake City, the two fastest rinks in the world, Olympic distances only. 500m women Nao Kodaira 36,47 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Vanessa Herzog 36,83 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Olga Fatkulina 36,83 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Kaja Ziomek 38,09 - 8-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Victoria Rodriguez 39,02 - 9-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Stien Vanhoutte 40,36 - 16-feb-19 - Inzell (BEL) Saskia Alusalu 40,85 - 23-feb-19 - Calgary (CAN) Ainoa Carreno 42,70 - 25-nov-18 - Tomaszów-Mazowiecki (POL) Tara Donoghue 43,10 - 5-jan-19 - Heerenveen (NED) Jamila Papilaya 43,26 - 16-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Larissa Paes 44,25 - 16-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Andrea Cabrera 1.12,28 - 17-nov-18 - Groningen (NED) 1.000m women Brittany Bowe 1.11,61 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Miho Takagi 1.11,71 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Yekaterina Shikhova 1.12,46 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Yekaterina Aydova 1.13,78 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Natalia Czerwonka 1.14,10 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Tara Donoghue 1.24,29 - 2-mar-19 - Heerenveen (NED) Larissa Paes 1.28,02 - 16-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Jami Papilaja 1.35,61 - 4-mar-19 - Heerenveen (NED) 1.500m women Miho Takagi 1.49,83 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Brittany Bowe 1.50,32 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Yekaterina Shikhova 1.50,63 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Ireen Wüst 1.50,70 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Natalia Czerwonka 1.53,93 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Marina Zueva 1.54,83 - 3-mar-19 - Calgary (CAN) Ellia Smeding 2.04,38 - 5-nov-18 - Heerenveen (NED) Valentina Espinosa 2.06,41 - 9-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Larissa Paes 2.17,50 - 9-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) 3.000m women Martina Sáblíková 3.52,02 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Esmee Visser 3.54,02 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Natalia Voronina 3.54,06 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Marina Zueva 3.55,73 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Valentina Espinosa 4.25,94 - 15-dec-18 - Salt Lake City (USA) Larissa Paes 4.49,53 - 19-jan-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) 5.000m women Martina Sáblíková 6.42,01 - 3-mar-19 - Calgary (CAN) Natalia Voronina 6.50,39 - 9-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Marina Zueva 6.53,19 - 3-mar-19 - Calgary (CAN) Gemma Cooper 7.42,40 - 10-feb-19 - Heerenveen (NED) 500m men Pavel Kulizhnikov 33,61 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Tatsuya Shinhama 33,79 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Cha Min-Kyu 34,03 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen 34,28 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Marten Liiv 35,71 - 17-nov-18 - Obihiro (JPN) Stefan Due Schmidt 37,58 - 22-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Rawad Ajameah 1:23,18 - 5-feb-19 - Arendal (NOR) 1.000m men Kjeld Nuis 1.06,18 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Pavel Kulizhnikov 1.06,47 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen 1.06,51 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Joel Dufter 1.06,80 - 9-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Mathias Vosté 1:08,88 - 9-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Stefan Due Schmidt 1:12,27 - 22-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Rawad Ajameah 3.00,57 - 28-feb-19 - Arendal (NOR) 1.500m men Kjeld Nuis 1.40,17 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Sverre Lunde Pedersen 1.42,39 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Kim Min-Seok 1.42,54 - 10-mar-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Ning Zhongyan 1:44,27 - 10-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) João Victor da Silva 1:57,48 - 15-feb-19 - Nagano (JPN) 5.000m men Sverre Lunde Pedersen 6:07,16 - Inzell (GER) Viktor Hald Thorup 6.18,25 - Calgary (CAN) 10.000m men Danila Semerikov 12:57,40 - 9-feb-19 - Inzell (GER)

Like how? Sub 1:50?! This seems unreal.

She's Dutch/Indonesian and represented the Netherlands in earlier seasons. That National Record at her age (21) is nothing special and she needs to take a few seconds off before becoming close to qualifying for the Olympic Games. She hasn't developed much either over the past seasons. But hey, never say never. It's always good to see new countries. Of course she's also the national record holder on the 1.000m as she is the only Indonesian skater. Somehow I forgot to include that record on the list above as she skated that time in December 2018, but that time is 20 seconds too slow to become competitive on that distance. Her focus is mainly on the 500m.

One of the final updates of the year. Indonesia and Switzerland are new to this list. Really looking forward to the World Allround Championships in Calgary this weekend and the World Cup Final in Salt Lake City later in March. 500m women Vanessa Herzog 37,12 - 8-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Kaja Ziomek 38,09 - 8-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Victoria Rodriguez 39,02 - 9-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Stien Vanhoutte 40,36 - 16-feb-19 - Inzell (BEL) Saskia Alusalu 40,85 - 23-feb-19 - Calgary (CAN) Ainoa Carreno 42,70 - 25-nov-18 - Tomaszów-Mazowiecki (POL) Tara Donoghue 43,10 - 5-jan-19 - Heerenveen (NED) Jamila Papilaya 43,26 - 16-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Larissa Paes 44,25 - 16-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Andrea Cabrera 1.12,28 - 17-nov-18 - Groningen (NED) 1.000m women Tara Donoghue 1.25,18 - 19-jan-19 - Heerenveen (NED) Larissa Paes 1.28,02 - 16-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) 1.500m women Ellia Smeding 2.04,38 - 5-nov-18 - Heerenveen (NED) Valentina Espinosa 2.06,41 - 9-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Larissa Paes 2.17,50 - 9-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) 3.000m women Valentina Espinosa 4.25,94 - 15-dec-18 - Salt Lake City (USA) Larissa Paes 4.49,53 - 19-jan-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) 5.000m women Natalia Voronina 6:50,39 - 9-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Gemma Cooper 7:42,40 - 10-feb-19 - Heerenveen (NED) 500m men Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen 34,35 8-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Marten Liiv 35,71 - 17-nov-18 - Obihiro (JPN) Stefan Due Schmidt 37,58 - 22-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Rawad Ajameah 1:23,18 - 5-feb-19 - Arendal (NOR) 1.000m men Mathias Vosté 1:08,88 - 9-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Stefan Due Schmidt 1:12,27 - 22-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) 1.500m men Ning Zhongyan 1:44,27 - 10-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) João Victor da Silva 1:57,48 - 15-feb-19 - Nagano (JPN) 3.000m men Livio Wenger 3:41,05 - 23-feb-19 - Calgary (CAN) Viktor Hald Thorup 3:44,36 - 19-jan-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Vladislav Bykanov 3.54,94 - 5-jan-19 - Heerenveen (NED) 5.000m men Sverre Lunde Pedersen 6:07,16 - Inzell (GER) 10.000m men Danila Semerikov 12:57,40 - 9-feb-19 - Inzell (GER)

Oksana!

I found a video on the site of the Dutch broadcaster where she's being interviewed. Seedo said she was born in , but pretty much has lived her whole life in . https://nos.nl/video/2272274-schippers-snelt-naar-indoortitel-seedo-maakt-indruk-op-nk.html

Update on national records skated after the World Single Distances Championships in Inzell, which is the biggest update so far. Larissa Paes once more improved on her PBs and also a new NR for a Syrian skater. Furthermore some national records for more traditional speed skating countries such as Russia and Norway Looking forward to the Wold Allround Championships in Calgary and the World Cup final in Salt Lake City (9-10 March) where a lot of NRs will be improved. 500m women Vanessa Herzog 37,12 - 8-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Kaja Ziomek 38,09 - 8-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Victoria Rodriguez 39,02 - 9-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Ainoa Carreno 42,70 - 25-nov-18 - Tomaszów-Mazowiecki (POL) Tara Donoghue 43,10 - 5-jan-19 - Heerenveen (NED) Larissa Paes 44,47 - 9-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Andrea Cabrera 1.12,28 - 17-nov-18 - Groningen (NED) 1.000m women Tara Donoghue 1.25,18 - 19-jan-19 - Heerenveen (NED) Larissa Paes 1.30,08 - 1-dec-18 - Salt Lake City (USA) 1.500m women Ellia Smeding 2.04,38 - 5-nov-18 - Heerenveen (NED) Valentina Espinosa 2.06,41 - 9-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Larissa Paes 2.17,50 - 9-feb-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) 3.000m women Valentina Espinosa 4.25,94 - 15-dec-18 - Salt Lake City (USA) Larissa Paes 4.49,53 - 19-jan-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) 5.000m women Natalia Voronina 6:50,39 - 9-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Gemma Cooper 7:42,40 - 10-feb-19 - Heerenveen (NED) 500m men Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen 34,35 8-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) Marten Liiv 35,71 - 17-nov-18 - Obihiro (JPN) Rawad Ajameah 1:23,18 - 5-feb-19 - Arendal (NOR) 1.000m men Mathias Vosté 1:08,88 - 9-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) 1.500m men Ning Zhongyan 1:44,27 - 10-feb-19 - Inzell (GER) 3.000m men Viktor Hald Thorup 3:44,36 - 19-jan-19 - Salt Lake City (USA) Vladislav Bykanov 3.54,94 - 5-jan-19 - Heerenveen (NED) 5.000m men Sverre Lunde Pedersen 6:07,16 - Inzell (GER) 10.000m men Danila Semerikov 12:57,40 - 9-feb-19 - Inzell (GER)

World Cup season 2018-2019 is over. Final World Cup classification per individual distance: Women's 500m: Natalia Maliszewska Martina Valcepina Lara van Ruijven Women's 1.000m: Suzanne Schulting Sofia Prosvirnova Alyson Charles Women's 1.500m: Suzanne Schulting Kim Ji Yoo Choi Min Jeong Overall World Ranking: Suzanne Schulting Natalia Maliszewska Kim Ji Yoo Sofia Prosvirnova Martina Valcepina Alyson Charles Choi Min Jeong Lara van Ruijven Ekaterina Efremenkova Yara van Kerkhof Men's 500m: Lim Hyo Jun Wu Dajing Samuel Girard Men's 1.000m: Park Ji Won Hong Kyung Hwan Shaoang Liu Men's 1.500m: Kim Gun Woo Steven Dubois Lee June Seo Overall World Ranking: Lim Hyo Jun Kim Gun Woo Park Ji Won Hong Kyung Hwan Steven Dubois Wu Dajing Shaoang Liu Lee June Seo Samuel Girard Hwang Dae Heon

Krol and Pedersen both beating Nuis and Yuskov is a surprise to me. And I was going to say that China needed some hard work leading up to 2022 as all Chinese skaters seemed to perform worse than last year, but that 19 year old skated an incredible time for a junior.

She decided to stop skating to focus on her studies. Wüst! Expected top 5, but these times are incredible!

Final day tomorrow with both the men's and women's 1.500m and the mass starts Women's 1.500m: Dan Li - Nikola Zdráhalova Noemi Bonazza - Kali Christ Yekaterina Aydova - Roxanne Dufter Mei Han - Gabriele Hirschbichler Karolina Bosiek - Xin Zhao Valerie Maltais - Elizaveta Kazelina Natalia Czerwonka - Melissa Wijfje Nana Takagi - Ayano Sato Ragne Wiklund - Antoinette de Jong Yekaterina Shikhova - Ireen Wüst Francesca Lollobrigida - Miho Takagi Brittany Bowe - Evgeniia Lalenkova In my opinion, the medal favorites are Bowe, Wüst, Shikhova, Miho Takagi and De Jong. Men's 1.500m: Joel Dufter - Zbigniew Bródka Takuro Oda - Haralds Silovs Alessio Trentini - Connor Howe Sindre Henriksen - Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu Sergey Gryaztsov - Mathias Vosté Zhongyan Ning - Jin-Su Kim Sverre Lunde Pedersen - Sergey Trofimov Masaya Yamada - Bart Swings Joey Mantia - Håvard Bøkko Thomas Krol - Denis Yuskov Patrick Roest - Seitaro Ichinohe Kjeld Nuis - Min Seok Kim The medal favorites are Yuskov, Nuis, Krol, Roest and Mantia, I think.

Beckert losing out on 0,002 seconds after 25 laps.