Nuis, second behind Russia’s Pavel Kulizhnikov in the 1,000m race in Salt Lake City two weeks ago, took on record holder Shani Davis of the US in the penultimate pair.

Neither started as fast as The Netherlands’ Kai Verbij, but they were quicker than Russia’s Denis Yuskov, who in the absence of compatriot Kulizhnikov gave his rivals a tough task after setting the second fastest-ever time in Inzell with 1min 08.55sec in the third pair.

Nuis made the difference with a time of 25.1sec in the first full lap, leaving Davis behind and paving the way for gold in a track record of 1:08.31; 14 seconds quicker than the previous mark.

At the final cross-over, Nuis was lucky to come from the outer-lane but took advantage of his priority with Davis having to let him pass and ending up 11th in 1:09.49.

Verbij came close to silver medallist Yuskov in the seventh pair with a time of 1:08.60, but ultimately had to settle for bronze.  

Dutchman Gerben Jorritsma had to skate alone because of Kulizhnikov’s withdrawal, finishing 10th in 1:09.26, retaining his second place in the World Cup standings with 198 points.

Kulizhnikov dropped to third place with 180 points and Nuis grabbed the lead with 250 points.

Meanwhile, in the women’s event, Bowe and compatriot Heather Richardson-Bergsma both shattered the record of 1:14.84, held by Canada’s Christine Nesbitt since 2011.

In a close race, Bowe had a slight advantage after 200m and 600m and finished with the strongest final lap in 1:14.01, while Richardson was also well below Nesbitt’s time with 1:14.52.

South Korean 500m specialist Sang-Hwa Lee was the best of the rest with 1:15.27 to take the bronze ahead of China’s Qishi Li and The Netherlands’ Marrit Leenstra.

Bowe strengthened her lead in the World Cup standings with 280 points ahead of Richardson in second with 250 points and Leenstra in third with 155 points.

Elsewhere, The Netherlands’ Jorrit Bergsma secured his country’s 22nd men’s 5,000m World Cup win in 6:17.35 with Norway’s Sverre Lunde Pedersen and fellow Dutchman Arjan Stroetinga taking second and third respectively.  

In the women’s team pursuit, the Japanese trio of Miho Takagi, Nana Takagi, Misaki Oshigiri set a track record time of 2:59.08 to secure the 1,000th World Cup gold medal in female events.

The Netherlands’ Marrit Leenstra, Antoinette de Jong and Marije Joling came second, ahead of Russia’s Natalya Voronina, Olga Graf and Yelizaveta Kazelina in third.

The event is due to continue tomorrow. 


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