Five alive
Ritsma one race away from fifth European speed skating title
Posted: Saturday January 09, 1999 01:10 PM
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Ritsma also won the 500 Friday and took third in the 5,000 AP |
HEERENVEEN, Netherlands (AP) -- Rintje Ritsma's 1,500 meters win Saturday means the Dutchman just needs to stay on his feet for one more race to be all-round European Speed Skating Champion for a record fifth time.
Ritsma's winning time was 1 minute 49.18 seconds. Norwegian Adne Soendral was second in 1:50.08 but is out of the running for the all-round title after disqualification Friday, as is third-placed Dutchman Ids Postma (1:50.36), who fell in the 500.
Ritsma also won the 500 Friday and took third in the 5,000.
Germany's Christian Breuer is second overall after finishing seventh in the 1,500 but needs to make up a highly improbable 29.78 seconds in Sunday's concluding 10,000 to catch Ritsma.
The women's European Speedskating Championship here at the Thialf indoor ice stadium are a contest betwen two Dutchwomen, Annamarie Thomas and Tonny de Jong.
Thomas won Saturday's first race, the 1,500, in 1:58.37, besting De Jong by 1.04 seconds to reverse the order of Friday's 500.
Later Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann, the German who has dominated women's skating in the 1990s but is returning from illness, made up some ground with a fine 3,000 meters win in 4:08.40.
But De Jong's second place in the 3,000 takes hear into Sunday's final event, the 5,000 with a 2.73-second advantage over Thomas, who finished fourth.
Despite the win Niemann-Stirnemann lies fourth overall and must catch up 22.10 seconds on the 5,000 to clinch her eighth European Championship all-round.
Results: Men
1,500-1,Rintje Ritsma, Netherlands, 1 minute 49.18 seconds. 2, Adne Soendral, Norway, 1:50.08. 3, Ids Postma, Netherlands, 1:50.36. 4, Dmitry Shepel, Russia, 1:50.64. 5, Martin Hersman, Netherlands, 1:51.03. Classification after three distances
1, Rintje Ritsma, Netherlands. 2, Christian Breuer, Germany, 29.78 seconds behind. 3, Martin Hersman, Netherlands, 31.74. 4, Dmitry Shepel, Russia, 32.04. 5, Roberto Sighel, Italy, 37.94.
Women
1,500-1, Annamarie Thomas, Netherlands, 1:58.37. 2, Tonny de Jong, Netherlands, 1:59.41 3, Claudia Pechstein, Germany, 2:00.18. 4, Emese Hunyady, Austria, 2:01.07. 5, Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann, Germany, 2:01.21.
3,000-1, Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann, Germany, 4:08.40. 2, Tonny de Jong, Netherlands, 4:08.70. 3, Claudia Pechstein, Germany, 4:09.66. 4, Annamarie Thomas, Netherlands, 4:11.70. 5, Barbara de Loor, Netherlands, 4:13.15.
Classification after three distances
1, Tonny de Jong, Netherlands. 2, Annamarie Thomas, Netherlands, 2.73 seconds behind. 3, Claudia Pechstein, Germany, 10.77. 4, Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann, Germany, 22.10. 5, Emese Hunyady, Austria, 25.59.
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