Team titles on the line during day three of WUC Speed Skating

AMSTERDAM – What started in sunlight on the Jaap Eden outdoor ice rink during day three of the FISU World University Speed Skating Championship came to a sudden, and stunning, end in the Netherlands’ capital.

Team competitions took centre stage during the day’s mid-afternoon opening with the Ladies Team Pursuit kicking off the proceedings, followed by the men’s event. The Dutch women left no doubt about their imprint on the event’s fifth edition, taking the win in 3:26.87. Poland finished second in 3:29.69, with Belarus taking third in 3:38.08.

Of all the women’s events at the championships, only Irina Kuznetsova’s track record-breaking performance in the Ladies 500m event denied the Dutch women gold. 

The Russian men’s trio en route to their gold medal performance in the Men’s Team Pursuit competition

The Men’s Team Pursuit pushed the level of excitement to another level, as Poland and the Netherlands put on a spirited battle for second place. While Poland managed to outpace the Dutch team by 12/100ths of a second, it was Russian that bested Poland by 24/100ths in 4:11.88 to take home top team honours.

Ladies 1000m gold medalist Sanneke de Neeling (centre) of the Netherlands shares the podium with silver medal performer Irina Kuznetsova (left) of Russia and bronze medalist Femke Beuling of the Netherlands

In the Ladies 1000m, Sanneke de Neeling of the Netherlands had redemption on her mind after a lacklustre 500m on Tuesday to take World University Championship gold with a new track record time of 1.20.11 – a stunning five seconds faster than the former old track best. De Neeling’s performance was aided by competing head-to-head with the 500m champ, Irina Kuznetsova of Russia. Kuznetsova, however, prevailed in picking up the silver medal with a time of 1.21.12. Femke Beuling completed the podium with a 1.21.55 performance.

Yamato Matsui of Japan en route to pulling off the second half of his 2020 WUC Speed Skating golden sprint double in the Men’s 1000m event

The Men’s 1000m largely followed the script from Tuesday’s 500m. Again it was Yamato Matsui of Japan managed to pull off the win before Ignat Golovatjuk of Belarus and Viktor Lobas of Russia. Yamato won with a new track record performance of 1.13.14 while Golovatjuk and Lobas also dove under the old mark with 1.13.26 and 1.13.45 performances, respectively.

The Men’s 1000m unexpectedly concluded the 2020 FISU WUC Speed Skating, as the fourth and final day of the championship was cancelled due to the rapidly developing situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information on the cancellation, please see the official statement here.