World Championships Inline Speed Skating 2016: Day 2 of track racing

Sprints

500m Senior Women: Colombian double victory

Erin Jackson (USA) won the start of the race, but the Colombians Jercy Puello and Paola Segura were not impressed and passed immediately. They got a comfortable lead and won against the American. Erika Zanetti (ITA) got fourth.

500m Senior Men: First world title for Gwendal Le Pivert and French double podium

After seven years of work, the Frenchman Gwendal Le Pivert finally reached his long-awaited goal! Gwendal has taken his time to be prepared perfectly for this moment. As it is usual for him, he started the race from the last position, while Elton de Souza (FRA), Suchul Jang (KOR) and Andres Jimenez (COL) fought for the front positions. Gwendal relied on his speed and passed one after another. On the last straight line he passed the Korean on the inside and finished it up with a big hawk. Elton of Souza, the other Frenchman in the race, completed the podium by finishing third in front of the Colombian Andres Jimenez.

1000m Junior Women: Colombia is sanctioned

The Colombians do their usual tactics. Both skaters go to the front of the pack: Kerstinck Sarmiento breaks away while Valeria Gonzales blocks the pack for her compatriot. The race seems to be over while Sarmiento passes the finish line with a big advantage, while Gonzales blocks the Italian Giulia Bonechi again. Therefore the Italian had to be satisfied with the bronze medal, but the Colombian girls had committed a team foul… The referees decided to disqualify Valeria Gonzalez and to place Kerstinck Sarmiento behind Giulia Bonechi because of the team foul. The Italian got World Champion and Japan’s Mayu Goto got third.

1000m Junior Men: China almost made it

China started the race from the front and tried to keep it to the end. However, it was the Korean who has stayed all the time in second position, passing on the final straight. Taiwan completed the podium.

Long distance racing

15k elimination Junior Women: China just missed gold

During the main part of the race Colombia, Korea, Taiwan and Venezuela stayed in the front positions of the pack to not get eliminated. In the final laps the Colombian girls take the lead to prepare the final sprint. When the bell ringed for the final lap, the Chinese Huiyan attacked from behind and passed all her competitors. Despite a beautiful hawk of the Chinese, Daniela Mendoza (COL) could still pass her. Huiyan Fang (CHN) got second and Chang Yu Hsin (TPE) third.

15k elimination Junior Men: Italy interrupts the Colombian Games

Belgium, Colombia, Ecuador, Italy and France do their best in order to stay at the front of the pack. In the final laps, the Colombians take the lead and attack. Carlos Franco (COL) wins the title, but the Italian Giuseppe Bramante could still pass the second Colombian Saul Herreño. Martin Ferrié (FRA) achieved the fourth place.

10k points/ elimination Senior Women: Argentina rewarded

In several races Mayra Yaquel Arias (ARG) was close to win the gold medal, however it did not happen yet. But now today, Argentina could win the gold medal in a really tough race against Colombia. In the first part of the race the Colombians could win many points: Fabriana Arias (COL) supported by her teammate Luz Karime Garzon (COL). Also the Korean Garam Yu was very active. In addition, the German Mareike Thum seems to be on the right path to win a medal. In contrast, Francesca Lollobrigida or Sandrine Tas remain slightly below expectations.
During the race Mayra Arias Yaquel maintained the front and could collect a lot of points. She also broke away for some laps. In total, she collected 14 points, which secured her the win in front of the Colombian Fabriana Aria (COL, 12 points) and the Korean Garam Yu (KOR, 10 points). Mareike Thum from Germany got fourth.

10k points/ elimination Senior Men: a big disappointment for France

Hard to imagine how Ewen Fernandez must have felt when the judges decided to restart the final over the 10k points/ elimination. The French World champion had a perfect start in the race which should be repeated now. While his teammate Timothy Loubineaud controlled the pack, Ewen could get half a lap ahead of the pack. He collected point by point, but then there was a crash in the pack – but nothing serious. The referee neutralized the race. While the skaters slowed down the speed, the crashed skater is already up. The speaker repeated several times that the speed must be reduced because the race is neutralized, although the crashed skaters were no longer on the track. Ewen Fernandez skated at a reasonable speed, to keep his lead. It seems as if it would have disturbed the main referee and that’s why he canceled the race, which is only an emergency solution actually. However, even the videos proved that there was no danger. But it got worse: the referee decided to completely restart the race, although the skaters had already done 20 laps.
When the race has restarted, you could clearly see that the French no longer ran with the same commitment. The Colombians took advantage of their new opportunity and got many points with Alex Cujavante and Manuel Saavedra. Peter Michael (NZL) also appears to be on track for a medal. But ultimately it is the Argentinean Kevin Kumada who wins surprisingly. He finished the race with 15 points ahead of Manuel Saavedra (11 points, COL) and Son Geun Seong (9 points, KOR), as well as Peter Michael (9 points, NZL).

Links

2016 edition of the World Roller Speed Skating Championships in Nanjing (China)