HEERENVEEN, NED (December 4, 2011) – Heather Richardson (High Point, N.C.) led Team USA’s Long Track team on today’s final day of World Cup competition. The reigning 1000m World Cup champion posted a time of 1:16.23 to take 6th place, narrowly missing the podium.
“I’m happy with my 1000m today, it was even better than yesterday, but I am excited to get home and train,” said Richardson following today’s competition. She now ranks 10th in overall ISU 100m World Cup standings.
“This was Heather’s best race of the World Cup trip, and it definitely shows that she is improving and getting back to her top form,” said U.S. Long Track Sprint Team head Coach Ryan Shimabukuro. “To miss the medal by less than a tenth of a second was disappointing, but also very promising that she’s right on track for a full recovery (from early season knee surgery), and looking forward to the World Sprint Championships in Calgary.”
Tucker Fredricks gold medal performance in Friday’s 500m was the highlight for Team USA in Heerenveen. The 2011 Long Track World Cup team has now won a total of five medals during the Fall 2011 World Cup season.
The team now travels back to the U.S. to train and prepare for the 2012 U.S. Speedskating Championships, December 13-18th at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, WI.
Full results from today’s racing are available at: http://live.isuresults.eu/2011-2012/heerenveen-1/
Essent ISU World Cup 3 – Heerenveen
TEAM USA Day 3 Results
Division A Ladies 1000: 1) Nesbitt 1:15.32 2) Jing 1:15.85 3) Shikhova 1:16.16
6) Heather Richardson 1:16.23 15) Brittany Bowe 1:17.01
Division B Ladies 1000: 1) Jin 1:17.90 2) Fatkulina 1:17.95 3) Aydova 1:18.04 11) Kelly Gunther 1:19.52
Division A Men's 1000 1) Nuis 1:08.64 2) deVries 1:09.14 3) Mo 1:09.18
7) Shani Davis 1:09.43
Division B 1000 Men: 1) Tuitert 1:09.71 2) Kretch 1:10.45 3) Lobkov 1:10.49
14) Mitch Whitmore 1:12.11 16) Trevor Marsicano 1:12.24
Ladies Team Pursuit: 1) Canada 3:00:01 2) Russia 3:02.38 3) Korea 3:03.18
8) USA 3:08.79 (Jilleanne Rookard, Maria Lamb, Gunther)
Men's Team Pursuit: 1) Netherlands 3:42.34 2) Korea 3:43.82 3) Germany 3:45.28 7) USA 3:53.38 (Jonathan Kuck, Patrick Meek, Davis)
Short Track Athletes Close World Cup 3 in Nagoya
NAGOYA, JPN (December 4, 2011) - Team USA’s short track skaters had a challenging finish to the Korean Air ISU World Cup 3 in Nagoya, Japan today.
The U.S. men (Kyle Carr (Peachtree City, GA), Jonathan Garcia (Houston, TX), John-Henry Kruger (Pittsburgh, PA) and Travis Jayner (Midland, MI) skated a crowded 5000m A Final today, facing Korea, Japan, Russia and China. While the team got off to a strong start, Korea broke away and led the majority of the race. Team USA moved up to second with 34 laps to go, but got tangled in the pack, tripped and fell back. A fall by Korea in the last few laps allowed China to take the gold (6:50.562), followed by a close finish for silver and bronze by Russia (6:53.481) and Japan (6:53.557), respectively. Korea finished 4th (6:53.814) and Team USA 5th (6:59.489).
Lana Gehring (Glenview, IL) finished 6th overall today in the ladies 1000m (2) with a time of 1:33.329 and Emily Scott (Springfield, MO) placed 11th in the 1000m (2) posting a 1:32.985 in the C Final. Jessica Smith (Melvindale, MI) placed 8th overall in the 500m, Garcia landed 8th overall in today’s 500m, posting a 42.898 in the B Final.
“Today was a tough day for Team USA,” said US Speedskating Short Track Team Leader Chris Weaver. “We'll learn from the mistakes we made today and use them as something to build on heading into Shanghai next weekend, and for the rest of the season as we head towards the World Championships in March, and Sochi in 2014.”
Following a triple podium performance yesterday in Nagoya, Team USA’s short track athletes have tallied nine World Cup medals to date on the Fall 2011 World Cup circuit.
Full results from today’s races in Nagoya are available at: http://www.sportresult.com/federations/ISU/ShortTrack/
Both of this weekend’s Long and Short Track World Cups can be viewed online at http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/site/index.html