A single U.S. speed skater won an event on the first day of the Berlin World Cup, but not the one many would have thought.
Not two-time Olympic champion Shani Davis. Not world sprint champion Heather Richardson. Not world-record holder Brittany Bowe.
Rather, it was Joey Mantia who won the 1500m in 1 minute, 45.80 seconds, .03 better than Poland’s Zbigniew Brodka. Davis, who won Olympic silver medals in the event in 2006 and 2010, was eighth.
Mantia, 27, had never finished better than 11th in a World Cup event after switching from inline skating in 2011.
This is the final World Cup stop before the Olympics. The number of skaters each nation will have in every Olympic event will be determined after this weekend’s results.
Czech Olympic champion Martina Sablikova won the 3000m in 4:02.25, edging German veteran Claudia Pechstein, 41, by .71. That was the final 3000m before the Olympics.
The U.S. should get two women in the Olympic 3000m, its fewest ever, as well as one in the 5000m, based on World Cup points and times. Which women will be determined at the U.S. Olympic Trials in three weeks.
Also Friday, the Netherlands’ Michel Mulder won the first of two men’s 500m races in 34.80, which was .09 ahead of South Korean Olympic champion Mo Tae-Bum. That moved Mo into first place in the season standings, followed by Mulder and then Mulder’s twin brother, Ronald.
South Korean Lee Sang-Hwa won her eighth straight World Cup 500m, beating Russian Olga Fatkulina by .35 in 37.36. Lee is the Olympic champion and world record holder. German Jenny Wolf, who was second in the World Cup standings, crashed on the final turn.
Davis still leads the men’s 1500m World Cup standings, ahead of his Dutch friend Koen Verweij. Mantia is eighth.
The Berlin World Cup continues Saturday.
Berlin World Cup -- Day 1
Men’s 500m -- Race 1
1. Michel Mulder (NED) 34.80
2. Mo Tae-Bum (KOR) 34.89
3. Keiichiro Nagashima (JPN) 35.01
8. Tucker Fredricks (USA) 35.17
12. Mitchell Whitmore (USA) 35.36
Women’s 500m -- Race 1
1. Lee Sang-Hwa (KOR) 37.36
2. Olga Fatkulina (RUS) 37.71
3. Wang Beixing (CHN) 37.79
4. Heather Richardson (USA) 37.80
7. Brittany Bowe (USA) 38.26
13. Lauren Cholewinski (USA) 38.67
19. Elli Ochowicz (USA) 38.90
Women’s 3000m
1. Martina Sablikova (CZE) 4:02.25
2. Claudia Pechstein (GER) 4:02.96
3. Ireen Wuest (NED) 4:03.50
11. Jilleanne Rookard (USA) 4:09.12
Men’s 1500m
1. Joey Mantia (USA) 1:45.80
2. Zbigniew Brodka (POL) 1:45.83
3. Denis Yuskov (RUS) 1;46.14
8. Shani Davis (USA) 1:46.74
11. Trevor Marsicano (USA) 1:47.28
19. Jonathan Kuck (USA) 1:48.55