U.S. speed skaters captured two more wins on the second day of World Cup racing in Inzell, Germany, on Saturday, putting Olympic disappointment behind them.
Shani Davis won in his first race since the Olympics, taking the 1000m in 1 minute, 8.7 seconds.
Davis, the 2006 and 2010 Olympic 1000m champion, had finished eighth in the 1000m in Sochi. Davis has won four of the five World Cup 1000m races this season and clinched the season title in the event.
“There’s a lot of mixed feelings,” Davis told Dutch media outlet NOS. “I’m still really depressed about my past results, but I’m happy that I can still race the 1000m at the highest level.
“It lets me know in my heart that it wasn’t me [in Sochi]. This was Shani that should have been two weeks ago.”
Davis said he’s starting to find his rhythm again but was cryptic about the future.
“There’s a lot of things up in the air I’m not quite sure about, so I can’t really speak on it yet,” Davis said. “Maybe some day in the future we’ll have a talk about it.”
The Netherlands’ Stefan Groothuis was second, one tenth behind Davis, and another American, Brian Hansen, was third. Groothuis won the Olympic 1000m in Sochi.
Heather Richardson won her second 500m in two days, skating 37.70 to win by .14 over Russian Olga Fatkulina. Richardson was eighth in the Olympic 500m.
In other races, Olympic champion Ireen Wuest of the Netherlands won the 3000m and bronze medalist Ronald Mulder won the 500m on Saturday.
Inzell men’s 500m Race 1
1. Ronald Mulder (NED) 34.96
2. Gilmore Junio (CAN) 35.02
3. Nico Ihle (GER) 35.10
8. Tucker Fredricks (USA) 35.27
19. Mitchell Whitmore (USA) 1:34.68
Women’s 500m Race 2
1. Heather Richardson (USA) 37.70
2. Olga Fatkulina (RUS) 37.84
3. Jenny Wolf (GER) 37.89
15. Sugar Todd (USA) 38.95
20. Kelly Gunther (USA) 39.87
Men’s 1000m
1. Shani Davis (USA) 1:08.70
2. Stefan Groothuis (NED) 1:08.80
3. Brian Hansen (USA) 1:08.90
11. Joey Mantia (USA) 1:09.91
14. Mitchell Whitmore (USA) 1:10.23
17. Jonathan Garcia (USA) 1:10.67
Women’s 3000m
1. Ireen Wuest (NED) 4:01.52
2. Martina Sablikova (CZE) 4:04.00
3. Yvonne Nauta (NED) 4:04.44
Men’s mass start
1. Arjen Stroetinga (NED) 10:11.43
2. Bart Swings (BEL) 10:11.56
3. Bob de Vries (NED) 10:13.59
5. Patrick Meek (USA) 10:11.74
6. Brian Hansen (USA) 10:18.49
