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Pechstein leads parade of marks in 3,000 meters
By Stephen Speckman
Deseret News Olympic specialist
KEARNS — Two down, eight to go.
The 10 records on the long-track speedskating world-record wall at the Utah Olympic Oval are going to be a lot different in a few weeks.
The Netherlands' Jochem Uytdehaage broke the world record in the men's 5,000 meters Saturday.
Three skaters in the women's 3,000 Sunday bettered the previous world record.
Athletes have been predicting all along that if gold medals were to be had during the 2002 Olympics, world records would need to be broken.
Germany's Anni Friesinger broke the Olympic record with a time of 3 minutes, 59.39 seconds, a fraction of a second off the world mark. Her moment of glory would be brief.
Two races later, the pairing of German teammate Claudia Pechstein and Canada's Cindy Klassen wowed a packed house salivating for a world record from speedskating's best.
Pechstein, the first female to break the 4-minute barrier in the 3,000, broke her own world mark by skating a 3:57.70. Klassen's blistering time of 3:58.97 would only earn her a bronze and a Canadian national record.
The Netherlands' Renate Groenewold stole away the silver in the final race with a 3:58.94.
"It's pretty special to skate here," said Groenewold of the Olympic Oval, adding that the dry air, the high altitude, a painful "exploding" feeling in her legs on the last lap and blood in the lungs was worth it.
At 4,675 feet above sea level, the Kearns oval is the world's highest indoor 400-meter ice track. The thin air at that altitude and the dry desert environment offer less resistance for the skaters.
The ice slab has been shaved from 1 1/4 inches to 3/4-inch thick, helping to make for a harder, faster surface. Combined with the most technically advanced humidity- and temperature-control systems available, the stage is set for a records coup.
But some still aren't ready to call Utah's ice the fastest around.
Klassen's home ice is in Calgary, which boasts a few world records of its own. It's not really fair, she said, to compare the two.
"I think that on any given day, they can both be the fastest," she said. "If the Olympics were held in Calgary right now, the records would be falling. It's bound to happen — records will fall."
Friesinger said the Oval's ice is different — how, she couldn't say — and that it can't be compared to Calgary's. What will be said if records fall in all 10 speedskating events remains to be seen.
U.S. Speedskating's Annie Driscoll, Catherine Raney and Jennifer Rodriguez all finished well off world record pace. Rodriguez posted the best time — 4:04.99, a national record — but her focus has been and will continue to be on her remaining three events, the 500, 1,000 and 1,500, where she's proven herself in World Cup action.
E-MAIL: sspeckman@desnews.com
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February 11, 2002
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