KEARNS — After a fairly successful 2006 season, Canada's Jeremy Wotherspoon took a few months off from speedskating. He almost decided to not come back.

His back hurt and he just needed a break. That break took nearly 18 months from World Cup competition, but when he finally decided to return to the Fastest Ice on Earth he nearly melted it.

Wotherspoon turned in a world-record performance in his first World Cup race since March 2006 and easily outdistanced the field. His time of 34.03 seconds in the 500 meter race was .17 faster than Korea's Kang-Seok Lee, who set the previous record on the same ice in last year's World Cup races.

"The trickiest thing was the amount of people telling me this was the fastest ice on earth and that I was going to set a world record," Wotherspoon said. "You try not to think about things like that. But you know about this ice and it's always in the back of your mind."

With a textbook start and a nearly-flawless run around the Utah Olympic Oval, Wotherspoon set what was the first of possibly several world records this weekend.

Erben Wennemars of The Netherlands was next to etch his name as a world record holder as he tied Shani Davis' mark of 1:42.32 in the 1,500 meter race. Davis, his skating partner in the heat, placed third at 1:42.92. Canada's Denny Morrison was second.

Wotherspoon's performance came after months of remaking his body and mind. By strengthening his upper body through a variety of therapy techniques and time spent traveling and avoiding the ice.

"If you feel better physically, you feel better mentally, too," Wotherspoon said.

He's feeling especially good now that his name is one of a world record holder. He'll get a chance to better his record on Sunday when the second heat of the 500 is held.

The 3-day event has drawn some 240 athletes from 25 countries as they kick off the World Cup season.

In the women's 500, China's Wang Beixing won, finishing in 37.32. Germany's Jenny Wolf finished second and Japan's Sayuri Yoshii third.

Wang followed up her 500 win with a second victory in the 1,000 meters. Her time of 1:14.19 was just one tenth of a second faster than Germany's Anni Friesinger. China's Wang Fei was third.

Wennemars broke down in tears during his cool down laps on the Oval as his record-tying performance was announced. Davis, who nearly pulled out of the competition over a dispute about his personal coaches, celebrated his third place podium finish with a fist pump and smile.

"It's a good feeling to know that things fell into place," Davis said. "It was a little difficult to prepare for this with my situation not knowing if I'd be skating or not . But I'm happy because it was my first real race this year."

The races continue today and Sunday with A Group races starting at noon each day. B Group athletes begin at 9:30 a.m. today and 9 a.m. on Sunday.

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E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com