Nesbitt golden at speedskating worlds
Canadian long-track speedskater Christine Nesbitt won her first sprint world championship title Sunday while defending champion Lee Kyou-hyuk of South Korea secured his fourth men's title.
Nesbitt relied on victories in the two 1,000-metre races and surprisingly strong 500-metre races for the title. Lee won both 500 races and placed sixth in the decisive final 1,000.
The Netherlands won silver and bronze in the women's competition, with Annette Gerritsen in second and Margot Boer in third. Mo Tae-bum of South Korea was second overall and Shani Davis was third after winning the closing 1,000 Sunday in the men's event.
Overnight men's leader Stefan Groothuis was disqualified in the 500 Sunday then reinstated and ended fourth overall.
Nesbitt, of London, Ont., gave two small claps as she cruised around Thialf oval following her strong finish in the 500, knowing she had virtually assured herself of the allround sprint title ahead of her favoured 1,000 metres.
Nesbitt won Olympic gold over the 1,000 at last year's Vancouver Games.
"Today I felt really good every step," Nesbitt said.
Jenny Wolf of Germany won her second 500 of the weekend in 38.33 seconds, but the 500 specialist could only finish 21st in the final 1,000.
Boer was second in the 500 in 38.44, one-hundredth of a second ahead of Nesbitt.
"I've been working a lot on my start," Nesbitt said. "Even just a little bit on the start gives you so much more for the first and second laps in the races."
Nesbitt is now aiming for a world championship double as she heads to the world allround championships in Calgary next month.
"My 500 and 1,500 and 3,000 are really good, but I haven't skated a 5,000 for two years," Nesbitt said. "This weekend I have proved to myself anything is possible so I think I have a chance."
Nesbitt dominated the 1,000 in a time of one minute 15.39 seconds. Ireen Wust of the Netherlands was second in 1:15.93 and fellow Dutchwoman Laurine van Riessen was third in 1:16.61.
Lee won the sprint title in 2007, 2008 and 2010. Davis, a two-time gold Olympic gold medallist over 1,000, interrupted his run by winning in 2009.
But a disappointing 500 Sunday scuttled the American's chance of beating Lee at the Thialf oval.
"He had to skate four solid races this weekend," Davis' coach Peter Mueller said. "If he had skated as well today as he did yesterday he might have had a chance, but Lee is very hard to beat."
Lee won Sunday's 500 in 34.77 and Davis could only manage ninth place in 35.40, leaving him too much time to make up in the final 1,000, which Davis won in 1:08.76.
Mo, Olympic champion in the 500, was third in both the 500 and 1,000 on Sunday to secure his overall silver.
Groothuis was disqualified in the 500 after judges initially said his right skate illegally crossed the centre line on the home straightaway before reversing their decision after studying video footage.
"I cried, cursed, everything," Groothuis said after finishing second behind Davis in the closing 1,000 — a race it initially looked like he would not even be allowed to skate.
"I'm glad they overturned it," Groothuis' coach Jac Orie said. "I just hope we can get rid of this ridiculous rule."
The ban on crossing the line was introduced this year despite complaints from skaters and Groothuis' disqualification and reinstatement stoked debate about scrapping it.
Olympic 1,500 champion Mark Tuitert of the Netherlands, who is not competing at these championships, tweeted: "Please someone within the ISU stand up and get rid of this linerule!"