Fish earns speed-skating gold, world record in 10,000 meters
KEARNS, Utah, Feb 15, (AP): Graeme Fish broke a world record on his way to winning his first long track speed-skating world championship.
Fish finished in 12 minutes, 33.86 seconds to claim gold in the men’s 10,000 meters in the opening event of the second day of the ISU World Single Distances Championships at the Utah Olympic Oval. The 22-year-old Canadian eclipsed the previous world record of 12:36.30, set by fellow Canadian Ted-Jan Bloemen in 2015.
“I really wasn’t focused on getting the world record,” Fish said. “I just knew I needed to do this time or that time. I just kept going with the flow. Once I got comfortable, it kind of just went well for me.”
Bloemen joined Fish on the podium, taking silver with a time of 12:45.01. Germany’s Patrick Beckert earned bronze in 12:47.93.
Fish took bronze in the 5,000 meters on Thursday. Both podium finishes are the first for him at a world championship event.
“This gold medal means a little bit more to me than the world record,” Fish said. “It could have been done numerous times before I did it. We never really get to skate here for a 10K. It’s awesome. I can’t believe it.”
Japan’s Nao Kodaira earned gold in the women’s 500 meters with a time of 36.69 seconds. Russians Angelina Golikova and Olga Fatkulina claimed the other spots on the podium. Golikova took silver, finishing in 36.74. Fatkulina earned bronze with a time of 36.78.
Kimi Goetz was the top American finisher in the women’s 500. Goetz took fifth with a personal-best time of 37.18 seconds. It was her first topfive finish after a pair of ninth-place finishes in World Cup races earlier this year.
“I have been visualizing this race all season,” Goetz said. “I visualize my 500 all the time and it’s always on the line at world championships. I did better today than I do in my visualization, so I can’t really be upset with that.”
Americans Erin Jackson and Brittany
Bowe finished seventh and 13th respectively in the women’s 500.
Russia’s Pavel Kulizhnikov claimed gold in the men’s 500 meters, finishing in 33.72. Fellow Russian Ruslan Murashov earned silver in 33.99. Japan’s Tatsuya Shinhama took bronze with a time of 34.03.
Japan won women’s team pursuit in 2:50.76. Netherlands and Canada finished second and third respectively to round out the podium. Team USA took sixth in the race.