For the second World Cup round in a row, Ragne Wiklund (21) took the podium after a record race.
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There were high expectations related to how fast Wiklund could go in Salt Lake City, where the vast majority of world records in skating are set. And Wiklund showed up once again, with a third place in the Olympic arena from 2002.
Wiklund entered the time 3.55.51 in doubles with a world record holder, a time that is well over three seconds ahead of the previous Norwegian record, 3.58.95, in the distance. It was Wiklund himself who put in Heerenveen last season.
3.55.51 was good enough for a third place in the race, 2.62 seconds behind Irene Schouten and 33 small hundredths behind Antoinette de Jong in second place.
–– The first four rounds came quite cheaply. I was a little surprised that Martina was so fast in the beginning. I remember very well the World Cup race last season, where I opened too hard and she took me at the end. It was very nice that we ran an opposite race now, says Wiklund to Viaplay after the race.
In the 3000 meters in the WC last season, Wiklund was number four, while Sáblíková was number two. In the same WC, Wiklund took gold in the 1500 meters, and the 21-year-old seems to have several good medal opportunities in the Olympics in February.
– I probably do not let my self-confidence skyrocket yet. It’s February that applies, and every weekend now I go in with the attitude that there is no reason for me to get any worse at least. I try to put the list in the same place every weekend and do the job, she says.
Schouten’s race is the second fastest 3000-meter of a woman ever, just a second behind the world record of Martina Sáblíková (3.52.02). Only seven women have gone faster than Wiklund’s 3.55.51 in history.
The 21-year-old entered her first podium place in the World Cup when she finished third in the 5000 meters in Stavanger two weeks ago. Even then, Wiklund set a personal record, with a time of 6.56.46, one and a half seconds behind the Norwegian record of Maren Haugli (6.54.98).
Only five other Norwegian women have come on the podium in an individual World Cup skating race since the World Cup started in the 1985/86 season. Bjørg Eva Jensen and Edel Therese Høiseth are the only ones who have won an individual race since the World Cup started, with Høiseth as the last of the two. Høiseth won a total of two World Cup races, the most recent in Calgary in January 2000.
Wiklund will walk 1000 meters and team pace on Saturday, while she will walk 1500 meters on Sunday.
PS! Earlier Friday, they ran 500 meters in Salt Lake City. Julie Nistad Samsonsen (38.23), Henrik Fagerli Rukke (34.47), Bjørn Magnussen (34.49) and Pål Myhren Kristensen (35.38) all broke personal records in the B-group, while Martine Ripsrud (38 , 40) touched his personal record. In the A-group it went newlywed father Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen in to eighth place with a time of 34.44.
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