Rodriguez Comes Out Fast and
Strong
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Jan. 22)
– U.S. Long Track speedskater Jennifer Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.)
took the overall lead in points at the Essent ISU World Sprint Championships
Saturday while setting new personal bests in the 500 and 1000-meters.
Rodriguez
trimmed two-tenths of a second off her best 500-meters time, finishing in
37.96 seconds. Her finish time wasn’t fast enough to put her atop the podium
but landed her in fourth place. Sayuri Yoshii (JPN) won the 500-meters in
37.74 followed by Anzhelika Kotyuga (BLR) and Tomomi Okazaki (JPN).
In the 1000-meters, Rodriguez finished
in 1:14.05, .01 better than her previous best. Her finish time got her a
silver medal. Chiara Simionato (ITA) won the gold in 1:13.89 and Sabine
Volker (GER) took the bronze in 1:14.31.
“Jen’s skating today was fantastic,”
U.S. Speedskating long track national coach Tom Cushman said. “She was
strong and fast and I hope tomorrow she will have fun.”
On the men’s side, Canada’s Jeremy
Wotherspoon took the points lead. In the 500-meters he took home the bronze
medal with a 34.65 finish time. Fengtong Yu of China won the event in 34.59
and Russia’s Dmitry Lobkov took the silver medal in 34.63.
American’s Joey Cheek
(Greensboro, N.C.) was the top U.S. finisher in eighth place
followed by Casey FitzRandolph (Verona, Wis.) in ninth.
In the 1000-meters, Jan Bos (NED) took
home the gold in 1:08.00. His teammate and current world record holder in
the 1000-meters, Gerard can Velde suffered a nasty fall in which his head
slammed onto the ice. Van Velde was bleeding in the head and had to be
carried off the ice by medical personnel.
Shani Davis (Chicago, Ill.)
skated to a silver medal finish with a 1:08.04 time, which also happens to
be his new personal best. Masaaki Kobayashi (JPN) won the bronze in 1:08.28.
According to Ryan Shimabukuro, U.S.
Speedskating’s long track coach, "Shani skated a superb second lap in his
1000m and is skating with tremendous confidence right now. He will be tough
to beat again in the 1000m tomorrow.”
Results:
(courtesy of
www.isu.org.
For more detailed results, please visit that site.)
Women’s 500-meters:
-
Sayuri Yoshii JPN 37.74; 2.
Anzhelika Kotyuga BLR 37.75; 3. Tomomi Okazaki JPN 37.84; 4. Jennifer
Rodriguez USA 37.96; 5. Sayuri Osuga JPN 37.98; 6. Sabine Volker GER
38.02
Americans: 22. E. Ochowicz 38.70; 24.
C. Witty 38.88; 27. A. Sannes 39.21
Women’s 1000-meters:
1 .Chiara Simionato ITA 1:13.89; 2.
Jennifer Rodriguez USA 1:14.05; 3. Sabine Völker GER 1:14.31; 4. Cindy
Klassen CAN 1:14.43; 5. Anzhelika Kotyuga BLR 1:14.65; 6. Sayuri Yoshii JPN
1:14.69
Americans: 9. C. Witty 1:15.29; 17. E.
Ochowicz 1:16.61; 25. A. Sannes 1:17.91
Ladies’ Classification:
-
J. Rodriguez USA 74.985; 2. A.
Kotyuga BLR 75.075; 3. S. Yoshii JPN 75.085; 4. C. Simionato ITA 75.115;
5. S. Volker GER 75.175
Men’s 500-meters:
-
Yu Fengtong CHN 34.59; 2. Dmitri
Lobkov RUS 34.63; 3. Jeremy Wotherspoon CAN 34.65; 4. Erben Wennemars
NED 34.75 5. Masaaki Kobayashi JPN 34.76; 6. Joji Kato JPN 34.80
Americans: 8. J. Cheek 34.88; 9. C.
FitzRandolph 34.99; 12. K. Carpenter 35.17; 20. S. Davis 35.43
Men’s 1000-meters:
-
Jan Bos NED 1:08.00; 2. Shani
Davis USA 1:08.04; 3. Masaaki Kobayahi JPN 1:08.28; 4. Erben Wennemars
NED 1:08.30; 5. Jeremy Wotherspoon CAN 1:08.40; 6. Petter Andersen NOR
1:08.55
Americans: 7. J. Cheek 1:08.59; 11. C.
FitzRandolph 1:08.84; 13. K. Carpenter 1:09.12
Men’s Classification:
1. J. Wotherspoon CAN 68.850; 2. E.
Wennemars NED 68.900; 3. M. Kobayashi JPN 68.900; 4. D. Lobkov RUS 69.020;
5. J. Cheek USA 69.175; 6. J. Bos NED 69.250