ALMATY – Jan Szymanski is the winner of 2nd WUC Speed Skating first day 1,500 m race in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The Polish athlete won his competition breaking the Medeu track record with 1.47,32. The previous record (1.51,91) was established in 2006 by Kazakhstani athlete Alexander Zhigin.
«I am absolutely happy with the day. Definitely, it is a very good result for the open ice arena. I am also very pleased with the warm atmosphere of the competitions. Besides, excellent weather much warmer than in downtown. By all means, it is very important for me personally to break the record of legendary “Medeu” ice arena. I was successful in Zakopane during the 1st WUC Speed Skating and now have my win in Almaty at the second championship. It was a bit hard, especially at the finish. The altitude here is approximate to Collalbo – the place we are training at, nevertheless I had some troubles with breathing», the winner told. The second place went to Dmitriy Fedotov (Russia). Silver medalist of 2013 Trentino Winter Universaide, Mirco Giacomo Nenzi (Italy) finished third with 1.51,38.
There is no professional covered ice arena in Poland, but in spite of this fact, the Polish team achieves high results in this season. The participation of Szymanski at the 2nd WUC in Almaty by all means reinforced the team.
The golden medal in the women’s race also went to Poland with Katarzina Wozniak winning the 3,000 m. clocking a 4.19,18. Marina Zueva (Belarus) missed the gold by almost 2 seconds, while Elena Sohryakova (Russia) was third.
The representatives of the Polish speed skating school had a confident win in the men’s team pursuit (3.56,82) too. It is interesting that the previous record belonged to the Kazakhstani team with Maxim Baklashkin (2010). Today he was on the ice too, however, this was not enough for the Kazakhstani team. Italy got silver and Norway won bronze.
(Source: OC WUC Speed Skating)
Download the Bulletin
Related News
