Brittany Bowe went nearly two years without winning a 1500m World Cup, and now has won on consecutive Saturdays. This is the first time in Bowe’s career she’s won back-to-back 1500m World Cup races.
Her two wins are the only 1500m races of the 2020-2021 ISU World Cup Speed Skating season – which typically has six World Cup events but was altered to a far shorter season held in a hub atmosphere in Heerenveen, Netherlands – giving Bowe the 1500m World Cup season title, which she last won in 2019. Bowe also won the 1500m season championship in 2016.
The 32-year-old won this week’s race in the Thialf venue in 1:53.455, faster than her Jan. 23 time of 1:53.88. Dutch skaters Antoinette de Jong and Ireen Wüst earned the silver and bronze medals in 1:53.813 and 1:54.228, respectively, after finishing in alternating positions one week prior.
Bowe will hope to take that momentum into the World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships, which closes out the international season Feb. 11-14. She has three World medals at that distance: gold in 2015, and bronzes from 2016 and 2019.
Dutch skaters won four of the day’s other five races, led by a sweep in the men’s 1500m. Thomas Krol repeated his victory there in 1:43.428, while Femke Kok won the women’s 500m in 37.233 seconds after twice winning at that distance in the first World Cup. Irene Schouten (8:21.750) and Jorrit Bergsma (7:43.470) took the mass start victories, Schouten for the second week.
Russia’s Pavel Kulizhnikov won the men’s 500m in 34.475 seconds.
Track records were set Friday in the team pursuit, with Norway winning the men’s race in 3:39.080 and Canada the women’s in 2:54.640.
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