Heerenveen (dpa) – German runners just missed out on a medal at the start of the World Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
The trio of Niklas Kurzmann (Berlin), Hendrik Dombek (Munich) and Moritz Klein (Erfurt) finished fifth in the team race with a time of 1:21.01 minutes and lost the bronze by 1.21 seconds. Canada won the title with a time of 1:19.26 minutes over the Netherlands (1:19.67) and Norway (1:19.80).
Felix Rejnen had previously finished 11th over 5000 metres. The Olympic 13th from Frankfurt/Main was 16.71 seconds behind Dutch winner Patrick Roest in his World Championship debut with a time of 6:25.65 minutes. Obviously, Olympic silver medalist Davide Giotto (6:11.12) fell to second place with a time of 6:08.94 minutes. Bart Swings of Belgium won the bronze medal with a time of 6:13.06 minutes.
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Michele Aurig of Berlin finished 19th in the women’s 3000 meters in 4:19.15 minutes. Ran Weklund of Norway became the world champion with a time of 3:56.86 minutes, ahead of Olympic favorite Irene Schouten of the Netherlands (6:57.40). The bronze went to 35-year-old Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic, with a time of 3:58.35 minutes.
Canada won the women’s team race with a time of 1:26.29 seconds, ahead of the United States (1:26.58) and China (1:27.86). The German trio Katja Franzen, Anna Ostlender (Inzel) and Leah Sophie Schultz (Berlin) finished seventh and last, with a time of 1:31.56 minutes.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 230302-99-807925/2
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