THE HAGUE, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- American Brittany Bowe continued her good form in the Heerenveen hub, the Netherlands this season, winning the third 1,000m title of her career at the ISU World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships on Saturday.
The American had won both World Cup races over the distance during the condensed 2020-21 season, and remained the one to beat at the world championships, finishing in one minute and 14.12 seconds ahead of pair-mate and defending champion Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands, who took silver in 1:14.67.
"The draw was good. You always want to be paired with the best competitor and starting from the inner lane is always nice in the 1,000m because you can chase in that last inner [corner]," Bowe said.
"The race went exactly how I replayed it time and time again in my head, and I was really happy to cross the line and see that green number next to my name."
Skating in the final pair, Russian athlete Elizaveta Golubeva had a personal best of 1:14.848 to snatch bronze.
"It was a very hard day for me, having to start in the 1,000m after the semis in the mass start. But I've got a medal with a personal best and surprised myself," the 24-year-old said.
The Russian did not manage to finish on the podium again after the mass start final though, with Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands winning her maiden world title in confusion.
"In the final 100m I did not see Irene and I suddenly saw [Canada's Ivanie] Blondin, and she wasn't supposed to win," said Groenewoud, who was supposed to lead out for compatriot Irene Schouten. "I knew I had to skate until the end because when I did that at the World Cup and it got me a bronze medal."
This time she took gold in 8:43.150. Blondin bagged silver and Dutch World Cup winner Irene Schouten had to settle for bronze.
Elsewhere on Saturday, home skater Kai Verbij (1:08.05) edged Russian world record holder Pavel Kulizhnikov by 0.26 seconds for his second 1,000m world title.
"But since I'm in the bubble my performance has gone upwards steeply. I'm like a cryptocurrency, but it's a cryptocurrency that doesn't lose value," Verbij noted.
Freshly-minted 500m world champion Laurent Dubreuil of Canada added a bronze in 1:06.76 while home favorite Thomas Krol was disqualified in the following pair for two false starts. The Canadian expressed mixed feelings towards this unexpected medal.
"I got lucky today," he said. "I think Thomas would have beaten me for sure but we'll never know. It's unfortunate for him but I did my own race and my race was OK but I would have liked for him to race. I want to beat guys and I don't want to win because they do two false starts. I feel bad for him."
In the men's mass start, Joey Mantia of the United State sprinted to a 7:32.470 finish for his third title in the event, leaving Dutchman Arjan Stroetinga and Belgian Bart Swings behind to take silver and bronze respectively.
The world championships, the last ISU event of this condensed season, will have its last matchday on Sunday with men's 1,500m and 10,000m and women's 1,500m and 5,000 titles at stake.