Netherlands seal double gold at the 2021 World Speed Skating Championships
There was more glory for home hero Antoinette de Jong teammate Ireen Wust made history on day two of the Heerenveen event in the Netherlands.
Speed Skating
After an unusually quiet day for the Netherlands on day one of the 2021 ISU World Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen, they were back in the gold medals on Friday (12th February).
Dutch trio Ireen Wust, Irene Schouten, and newly-crowned ladies’ 3,000m world champion Antoinette de Jong won the ladies team pursuit in 2:55:78.
It was a record 31st medal for five-time Olympic champ Wust at single distance world championships'. She's also now the oldest female world champion in single distance competitions.
The much-fancied Canada team - who won gold at the last two World Cups - finished second, while the team representing the Russian Skating Union (RSU) were third.
Patrick Roest, Marcel Bosker, & Beau Snellink made it two from two for the Netherlands, as they clinched the men’s team pursuit gold medal in 3:41:43.
Canada sealed silver, while the Russian skaters took bronze.
Next up on track, Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil stormed to the men’s 500m world title in 34.40s.
Pavel Kulizhnikov from RSU came second, with Dutch skater Dai Dai N’tab winning his first individual world medal in third.
The final race of the day saw Russian skater Angelina Golikova speed to the ladies’ 500m gold medal in 37.14s.
Femke Kok of the Netherlands took home silver, while bronze went to Golikova’s compatriot Olga Fatkulina.