Perfect end
Wotherspoon caps off World Cup season
Posted: Sunday February 28, 1999 06:19 PM
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Jeremy Wotherspoon (shown after setting the world record eight days ago) tied Japan's Kuniomi Haneishi in the 500 meters Sunday. AP |
ROSEVILLE, Minnesota (AP) -- Canada's Jeremy Wotherspoon capped off a dominant World Cup season with gold medals in the 500-meter and 1,000-meter races Sunday in the final meet for the 1998-99 circuit.
Wotherspoon won the 1,000-meter race with a time of 1 minute, 12.80 seconds to finish with 450 of a possible 540 points in the overall 1,000-meter World Cup standings. Wotherspoon, who won the World Speedskating Championship in Calgary, Alberta, last Saturday, finished 105 points ahead of world-record holder Jan Bos of the Netherlands.
"I was consistently able to race well this year, even when I wasn't at my peak," Wotherspoon said. "I think that is a good sign for the future."
The men's 500-meter race ended in a tie, with Wotherspoon and Japan's Kuniomi Haneishi finishing in 37.11 seconds. Wotherspoon, who holds the world-record time of 34.76 seconds, won his eighth straight World Cup 500-meter race to finish with 530 points in the event.
Casey FitzRandolph of the United States edged out Canada's Mike Ireland by one-hundredth of a second to maintain second place in the 500-meter standings.
Germany's Monique Garbrecht won the women's 1,000-meter race for the second straight day with a time of 1:21.35 seconds, to win the overall World Cup with 470 points. Garbrecht won the World Championship last week, setting a world record with a time of 1:14.61.
Chris Witty of the United States finished second overall in the World Cup 1,000-meter standings, and teammate Amy Sannes wound up eighth.
"For the year I met my goal for the 1,000 by finishing in the top 10," said Sannes, who is from nearby St. Paul.
Svetlana Zhurova of Russia won her second consecutive 500-meter race, with a time of 40.02 seconds. Zhurova, who set the track record of 39.21 seconds on Saturday, had not finished higher than third in the 1998-99 World Cup prior to this weekend.
"I think I raced well here because all year in Russia I train outdoors," Zhurova said.
Canada's Catriona LeMay Doan finished first in the 500-meter overall standings with 455 points.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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