Essent ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating – Groningen (NED)
The third international World Cup series for Juniors concluded this weekend in the semi-covered ice rink of the Dutch town of Groningen. After opportunities to race in regional competitions in Calgary, Tomakomai or Zakopane, and later in Baselga di Piné or Milwaukee, where they could only earn half the normal points, the skaters were able to gather full points during the Junior World Championships in Seinäjoki, and now Groningen offered a final opportunity to gather more points. Those to be won in Groningen are worth 150% of the normal points.
Ladies
In the 500m ladies, Yekaterina Aydova from Kazakhstan was clearly the strongest. She won most races, but lost during the Junior Worlds to Karolina Erbanová, who did not skate any of the other Junior World Cups, and to Hyun-Yung Kim (KOR). Aydova won again in Groningen and won the overall Cup with 420 points, while Kim was second with 350, and Doreen Lamb (GER) secured a third-place finish to end up overall third with 267 points. Aydova has been skating during all of the three years in the Junior World Cup with good results, and is the skater with the most victories, namely 12, after she also won the 1000m in Groningen. It was not enough for the overall win, as Lotte van Beek’s fourth place was enough to keep her in the lead. Van Beek took the victory with 250 points, Aydova finished in second place in the 1000m with 222 points, and Kim was third with 205, passing Kali Christ (CAN) with a second-place finish in Groningen
In the 1500m, Pien Keulstra, the Dutch runner-up at the Junior Worlds, was the fastest with 285 points. She was already in the lead in front of Van Beek and Christ, and kept Bo-Reum Kim (KOR) with 245 points behind her, in spite of Kim taking the win. But Kim’s win brought her from fifth to the second place overall. The bronze was for Kali Christ (CAN) with 225 points. It wasn’t much different in the 3000m. Keulstra also won the 3000m with 290 points, although it was Bo-Reum Kim who won the World Cup Final, two and a half seconds ahead of Keulstra, who had skated one more race in total. Bo-Reum Kim gathered 280 points and kept her second place in the ranking. Jessica Beckert, a younger sister of senior top skaters Stephanie and Patrick Beckert, reached third place with 155 points. Fifty-eight ladies skated in at least one Junior World Cup at this distance, but there were only 15 finishing the Groningen race. There were even as many as 63 skaters in total in the 500m in the season.
In the Team Pursuit, the Japanese ladies, who were second at the world championships, won for the first time in Groningen, bringing them the cup with 230 points. The Canadian ladies are second with 190 points, and the USA third with 165.
It has been a magnificent year, where many promising talents could be seen in the Junior World Cup and some of them even reached the senior World Championships and also performed well there.
Essent ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating season 2010/2011 - Medal Winners
