Speed Skating 2020 - 2021 Discussion Thread

[Dennis 600]

Several national championships were held this weekend. These are the medalists with their age in brackets.

 

 held in Hamar

 

Women	500m	1.000m	1.500m	3.000m	5.000m
01.	Julie Nistad Samsonsen [20]	Ida Njåtun [29]	Ida Njåtun [29]	Ragne Wiklund [20]	Ragne Wiklund [20]
02.	Martine Ripsrud [25]	Ragne Wiklund [20]	Ragne Wiklund [20]	Ida Njåtun [29]	Sofie Karoline Haugen [25]
03.	Carina Jagtøyen [22]	Martine Ripsrud [25]	Sofie Karoline Haugen [25]	Sofie Karoline Haugen [25]	Marit Fjellanger Bøhm [32]
Men	500m	1.000m	1.500m	5.000m	10.000m
01.	Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen [28]	Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen [28]	Allan Dahl Johansson [22]	Hallgeir Engebråten [20]	Hallgeir Engebråten [20]
02.	Bjørn Magnussen [22]	Odin By Farstad [22]	Peder Kongshaug [19]	Sindre Henriksen [28]	Allan Dahl Johansson [22]
03.	Odin By Farstad [22]	Allan Dahl Johansson [22]	Sindre Henriksen [28]	Allan Dahl Johansson [22]	Sander Tveter [21]

• None of the winning times on the women's side were impressive. On the men's side, the times were slightly better, though not world level. 
• Let's hope Ragne Wiklund can make some progress this year after her progress stalled last season, because she is the one who needs to carry women's speed skating in Norway over the next years as there are no signs of solid junior skatings coming through over the next years.
• Sverre Lunde Pedersen (World Champion 5.000m in 2019, Olympic Champion Team Pursuit in Pyeongchang) withdrew, not sure if this is related to COVID-19.
• Peder Kongshaug, the Junior World Champion on the 1.000m, just missed out on the podium on multiple distances, but is still a junior and skated times that would be good enough to add at least one more world title this season if the championships are to be held.
• With three neo-seniors, this must be one of the youngest podiums ever on the 10.000 meter, a distance usually not skated at junior tournaments, though Tveter skated a time above 14 minutes and Engebråten was the only skater with a somewhat competitive time of. 13.28,73. Øystein Grødum [43] who finished 4th at the World Championships in 2008, finished in 5th place.

 

 held in Minsk

 

Women	500m	1.000m	1.500m	3.000m
01.	Hanna Nifantava [21]	Ekaterina Sloeva [21]	Marina Zueva [28]	Marina Zueva [28]
02.	Ekaterina Sloeva [21]	Hanna Nifantava [21]	Ekaterina Sloeva [21]	Ekaterina Sloeva [21]
03.	Yauheniya Varabyeva [22]	Marina Zueva [28]	Tatsiana Mikhailava [33]	Anna Kovaleva [21]
Men	500m	1.000m	1.500m	5.000m
01.	Ignat Golovatsiuk [23]	Ignat Golovatsiuk [23]	Ignat Golovatsiuk [23]	Yahor Damaratski [20]
02.	Victor Rudenko [22]	Uladzislau Zapoikin [21]	Yahor Damaratski [20]	Yauheni Bolhau [22]
03.	Artsiom Chaban [26]	Victor Rudenko [22]	Yauheni Bolhau [22]	Aliaksei Kirpichnik [23]

• Ekaterina Sloeva used to represent Russia, but only took part in competitions in Belarus, so it makes sense she switched her nationality. She is by far the most surprising skater here. Again, no competitive times, even Zueva who can be world class on a good day, didn't show any impressive form. Zueva, Nifantava and perhaps Sloeva are the three that I keep my eye on for qualification for Beijing 2022.
• Ignat Golovatsiuk remains the only male skater from Belarus to post times good enough to qualify for the Olympics.
• No women's 5.000m or men's 10.000m were held.

 

 held in Kolomna

 

Women	500m	1.000m	1.500m	3.000m	5.000m
01.	Olga Fatkulina [30]	Olga Fatkulina [30]	Evgeniia Lalenkova [30]	Natalia Voronina [26]	Natalia Voronina [26]
02.	Angelina Golikova [29]	Daria Kachanova [23]	Elizaveta Golubeva [24]	Evgeniia Lalenkova [30]	Evgeniia Lalenkova [30]
03.	Daria Kachanova [23]	Elizaveta Golubeva [24]	Natalia Voronina [26]	Elizaveta Golubeva [24]	Elena Sokhryakova [29]
Men	500m	1.000m	1.500m	5.000m	10.000m
01.	Ruslan Murashov [27]	Viktor Mushtakov [23]	Sergey Trofimov [25]	Sergey Trofimov [25]	Ruslan Zakharov [33]
02.	Viktor Mushtakov [23]	Ruslan Murashov [27]	Daniil Aldoshkin [19]	Ruslan Zakharov [33]	Alexander Rumyantsev [33]
03.	Artem Arefyev [20]	Aleksandr Podolskii [21]	Aleksandr Podolskii [21]	Alexander Rumyantsev [33]	Danila Semerikov [26]

 

• Voronina (WR holder 5.000m and reigning World Champion) skated a 6.56 on the 5.000m which is impressive for this time of year. 
• Elizaveta Golubeva is the new name of Elizaveta Kazelina. That means all of the women's podiums are more or less the names you would expect there based on previous season(s). 
• Aldoshkin coming close to winning the title in the men's 1.500m is the biggest surprise for me. However, Yuskov did not take part in these championships. Neither did Kulizhnikov (WR holder 500m and 1.000m), which resulted in only 1 impressive time on the sprint distances: 34,80 by Murashov on the 500m in Kolomna, which is not considered to be a very fast track.
• Rumyantsev won the 10k in a 13.09, which is very solid for this time of year.

 

 held in Tomaszów-Mazowiecki

 

Women	500m	1.000m	1.500m	3.000m	5.000m
01.	Karolina Bosiek [20]	Karolina Bosiek [20]	Natalia Czerwonka [32]	Magdalena Czyszczon [25]	Magdalena Czyszczon [25]
02.	Kaja Ziomek [23]	Natalia Czerwonka [32]	Karolina Bosiek [20]	Karolina Bosiek [20]	Magdalena Borek [28]
03.	Andzelika Wójcik [23]	Andzelika Wójcik [23]	Magdalena Czyszczon [25]	Natalia Czerwonka [32]	Natalia Jabrzyk [19]
Men	500m	1.000m	1.500m	5.000m	10.000m
01.	Artur Nogal [30]	Artur Nogal [30]	Marcin Bachanek [24]	Szymon Palka [23]	Szymon Palka [23]
02.	Damian Zurek [21]	Damian Zurek [21]	Damian Zurek [21]	Mateusz Owczarek [23]	Patryk Wójcik [30]
03.	Piotr Michalski [26]	Marcin Bachanek [24]	Szymon Palka [23]	Patryk Wójcik [30]	Marcin Bachanek [24]

• On the women's side, all medals were won by only 7 different skaters, none of them in impressive times. This shows the lack of depth in Polish speed skating at the moment, though you see in the junior categories that they are on the rise. Bosiek will have to carry Polish speedskating over the next years though waiting for the juniors to come through. Jabrzyk looks impressive with a bronze as a 19-year old, but her time is more than 1 minute slower than the time Antoinette de Jong skated today at the Dutch national championships which earned her a 7th place.
• The Polish men also weren't that impressive and are missing a clear star skater that could carry the Polish team.
• However, Szymon Wojtakowski finished top 10 in multiple distances. He's a 15 year old and therefore junior for 4 more seasons, and is probably the best skater worldwide in his age category. He won the Vikingrace (unofficial European Championships for juniors per age category) in his category last season by obliterating all the other skaters in every single distance. The Vikingrace has been won by many Can't wait to see what he'll be capable of in a couple of years. 

 

 held in Heerenveen

 

Women	500m	1.000m	1.500m	3.000m	5.000m
01.	Femke Kok [20]	Jutta Leerdam [21]	Jorien ter Mors [30]	Irene Schouten [28]	Irene Schouten [28]
02.	Jutta Leerdam [21]	Femke Kok [20]	Antoinette de Jong [25]	Reina Anema [27]	Reina Anema [27]
03.	Marrit Fledderus [19]	Ireen Wüst [34]	Melissa Wijfje [25]	Antoinette de Jong [25]	Carlijn Achtereekte [30]
Men	500m	1.000m	1.500m	5.000m	10.000m
01.	Dai Dai N'tab [26]	Thomas Krol [28]	Thomas Krol [28]	Patrick Roest [24]	Marwin Talsma [22]
02.	Hein Otterspeer [31]	Kai Verbij [26]	Patrick Roest [24]	Sven Kramer [34]	Patrick Roest [24]
03.	Kai Verbij [26]	Kjeld Nuis [30]	Wesly Dijs [25]	Marcel Bosker [23]	Marcel Bosker [23]

• These are the first national titles for Irene Schouten on more traditional distances (7x national champion on the mass start) + a world leading time on the 5.000m.
• Olympic Champion Esmee Visser just missed out on the podium on the 5.000m.
• Ireen Wust has now won 41 medals at the national championships per distance. She has won at least one medal at each national championship since 2006.
• Femke Kok won her first of many national titles, standing on top of what must be the youngest podium ever at a Dutch national championship.
• The fact that Kjeld Nuis made the podium on the men's 1.000m is quite impressive after just getting out of a two-week quarantine.
• Jorrit Bergsma skated the fastest time on the 10.000m (0,3 seconds ahead of Talsma), but got disqualified for hindering Talsma on the change-over.
• The winning times on the men's 1.000m, 1.500m, 5.000m and 10.000m are currently the world leading times this season.

[Olympian1010 7,470]

 

[rybak 2,684]

World Cup's, European Championships and World Championships are confirmed to be held in this season.

 

Quote

The ISU Council reviewed the status of the ongoing skating season 2020/21 considering the worsening world-wide pandemic developments and its impact on organizing and participating ISU Members. The ISU Council took the following decisions:

 

Speed Skating Hub

As stated in ISU Communication 2355, on November 4, 2020 the ISU Council approved the hub concept which will be implemented in Heerenveen (NED) and will include the ISU European Speed Skating Championships and two ISU World Cup Speed Skating events. The dates for the three events are as follows:

 

• ISU European Speed Skating Championships - January 16-17, 2021
• ISU World Cup Speed Skating - January 22-24, 2021
• ISU World Cup Speed Skating - January 29-31, 2021

 

However, the ISU Council decided to cancel the ISU World Cup Speed Skating events scheduled to be held in Changchun (CHN) on February 17-18, 2021 and in Heerenveen on March 6-7, 2021.

 

ISU World Speed Skating Championships 2021 to be held in Heerenveen (NED) on February 11-14, 2021

 

Following the announcement of November 13, 2020 that the initially scheduled Olympic Test Events in Beijing for the ISU disciplines will not be held during the ongoing season 2020/21, and a subsequent evaluation for an alternative date and location for the ISU World Speed Skating Championships 2021, the ISU Council agreed to move the Championships to Heerenveen (NED) and by doing so extending the Speed Skating Hub of the European Championships and two ISU World Cups Speed Skating.

 

[dcro 10,179]

Partytime for @heywoodu

[Olympian1010 7,470]

Solid plan from the the ISU. I think this is the best option available. I do wish we got one more World Cup, but that’s still a decent schedule all things considered. It’s going to be a fun month 

[heywoodu 13,540]

54 minutes ago, dcro said:

Partytime for @heywoodu

Meh, not so much to party about this season, since it's the first time since the second World War the mother of all speed skating world championships won't be held. And it's not even a pandemic consequence, but a conscious decision by ISU's experts from the beaches of Thailand to only do it once every two years now.

 

I didn't bother looking if it's at least the real European championships or the distance ones that can't even create any hype in the Netherlands  

[heywoodu 13,540]

Sweden's Nils van der Poel was a very promising 10k rider 3-4 years ago, but since he won the 10k at the world allround championships in March 2018 he didn't compete in any serious race anymore (he did run a 171km ultramarathon in under 21 hours, it's not like he was lazy ). 

 

Today he made his comeback in Inzell.....destroying his 10k PB by nearly 20 seconds to 12:46, only five guys have ever been faster

 

He is back and the 10k keeps on getting more and more interesting!  

[Dennis 600]

 

3 hours ago, heywoodu said:

Sweden's Nils van der Poel was a very promising 10k rider 3-4 years ago, but since he won the 10k at the world allround championships in March 2018 he didn't compete in any serious race anymore (he did run a 171km ultramarathon in under 21 hours, it's not like he was lazy ). 

 

Today he made his comeback in Inzell.....destroying his 10k PB by nearly 20 seconds to 12:46, only five guys have ever been faster

 

He is back and the 10k keeps on getting more and more interesting!  

What a bizarre time, especially after a not so interesting 6.35 on the 5k where he finished behind 3 Danish, a Lativan and a Swiss skater and a 1.500m in 1.51 right before the 10k. 

 

[heywoodu 13,540]

It's been a few days, but there was a rather awesome world championships qualification tournament in Heerenveen for the Dutch skaters last weekend and Monday. The absolute highlight was a truly epic 10k between Jorrit Bergsma and Patrick Roest, in which Roest seemed to be out, before he managed to rise up and throw down a complete blinder of a final 2k (he nearly went under 28 seconds in the final lap!) for 12:35.20 minutes, not even two seconds slower than the world record and the second fastest time in history. Bergsma finished in 12:37.72 which is now the fourth fastest time in history.

 

The men's 1000m saw an impressive 1:07.36 for Thomas Krol, Roest skated the 5k track record into history with 6:08.21 minutes. 

The women's 500m had an awesome fight between Femke Kok and Jutta Leerdam who posted a 37.08 and 37.24 in the first run (they didn't come close in run two). Only Nao Kodaira (36.94 in Gangneung) and Angelina Golikova (37.02 in Heerenveen) have ever been faster at sea level than Kok's race.

Those were the main highlights, although the women's 3k was very impressive as well with Antoinette de Jong skating a new track record in 3:57.32 minutes, Irene Schouten finished in 2nd but won the 5k in a great 6:51.45 minutes.

 

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wereldkampioenschapskwalificatietoernooi_schaatsen_2020/2021

[Dennis 600]

Miho Takagi won all distances at the Japanese National Championships in Obihiro. Even more impressive is that she skated 4 new track records (1.000m, 1.500m, 3.000m and 5.000m). 

 

On the men's side there are five different national champions (500m = Yuma Murakami, 1.000m = Masaya Yamada, 1.500m = Takuro Oda, 5.000m = Seitaro Ichinohe, 10.000m = Ryosuke Tsuchiya).

 

I find it strange that Japan already held their national single distances championships 2021 in October 2020 (Nagano), so I'm not really sure what these titles mean.