China wins gold, bronze in team sprint at ISU speed skating World Cup in Norway

Gold medalist Ren Ziwei (C) of China, silver medalist Pascal Dion (L) of Canada and bronze medalist Park Jang Hyuk of South Korea celebrate during the awarding ceremony after the men's 1500m final at the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating series in Debrecen, Hungary, Nov. 20, 2021. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

COPENHAGEN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The second day competitions at the ISU speed skating World Cup in Norway saw China win a gold and bronze from five medal events at the Sormarka Arena in Stavanger on Saturday.

The three-strong Chinese men's team took their first gold in Norway at the men's team pursuit, while powerhouse and title favorite Netherlands missed out on a medal after one of the Dutch skaters fell down during the race.

China's Wang Haotian, Lian Ziwen and Ning zhongyan triumphed with a time of 1:20.122 with Norway's Magnussen, Rukke and Lorentzen at 1:21.025 taking silver for the homeside and Kania, Michalski, and Zurek grabbing the bronze for Poland.

In the final medal event of the day, Team Sprint Women Division A, China again reached the podium with a spirited bronze-winning performance, much to the obvious surprise and excitement of team members Zhang Lina, Jin Jingzhu and Li Qishi.

Poland's A. Wojcik, K. Ziomek, N. Czerwonka won the gold with 1:28.36, with Canada taking silver and China's much-prized bronze achieved in 1:28.574.

In the first 500m Women's Division final, former inline roller skating champion Erin Jackson from the U.S. produced another lightning fast performance to earn the gold medal, Jackson's third in the 500m in a week, after winning both 500m events in Poland last week.

Despite Jackson's speed she was unable to break Nao Kodaira track record set at 37.07, but the American's performance was sufficient to push her Japanese rival, who recorded 37.708 to take silver.

The bronze medal went to Kaja Ziomek of Poland with a personal best time of 37.746

China's Jin Jingzhu came in the 10th, in a field of twenty competitors, following a mistake in the final sprint which caused a loss of balance and impacted her momentum.

In the first 500m Men's Division A final, Laurent Dubreuil of Canada secured gold in 34.573 followed by Artem Arefyev of Russia taking silver and Marek Kania, on his debut at this level, taking the bronze in 34.653.

More medals flowed in the high endurance, 10,000m Men's final saw world record holder and Swedish speed skating prodigy Nils van der Poel, 25, chalk up both a new track record and a gold medal-winning performance of 12:38.928, followed by Canadians Jan Bloemen at 13:00.230 and Graeme Fish at 13:07.739.

The ISU WC Speed Skating in Stavanger, running from Nov. 19 until Nov. 21, serves as the second installment of four ISU speed skating World Cup events, doubling as Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 qualifiers.