Russia's Denis breaks 1,500-meter world mark
Russia's Denis Yuskov broke the men's 1,500-meter world record on Saturday in the World Cup speedskating event at the Utah Olympic Oval.
Yuskov finished in 1 minute, 41.02 seconds to break the mark of 1:41.04 set by American Shani Davis on the same ice in Kearns in a World Cup race on December 11, 2009. Dutchman Koen Verweij was second in 1:41.63, and countryman Thomas Krol was third in 1:42.63.
American Joey Mantia was fourth in 1:42.77, Davis 13th, and American Brian Hansen was 16th.
Mantia, who said he was battling a cold, slipped a couple of times during his race. He was paired with Yuskov in the final pairing and couldn't keep up with the Russian skater after the initial lap.
"I haven't really been myself the last couple of days," Mantia said. "I don't know if that had any bearing on the race. I was just a little bit out of it today.
Japan's Miho Takagi won the women's 1,500 in 1:51.49. Marrit Leenstra of the Netherlands was second in 1:52.31, and Russia's Yekaterina Shikhova finished third in 1:52.86.
Brittany Bowe, the lone US skater competing, was 13th. She finished in 1:55.49, her best 1,500 time in nearly two years.
Bowe said her speed isn't where she wants it to be yet, but feels like she can keep making up ground before the Olympics in February.
"We've got two more months and I'm confident that if I can have two solid months, without any more obstacles, that we'll be right where we want to be," Bowe said.
Japan's Nao Kodaira won the women's 500 for the second time in two days. Kodaira finished in 36.54. South Korea's Lee Sang-hwa was second to Kodaira again, finishing in 36.79. Japan's Arisa Go was third in 37.05.
Russia's Ruslan Murashov finished in 34.02 to win the men's 500. Dutchman Kai Verbij was second at 34.13, followed by countryman Dai Dai Ntab at 34.15.
South Korea's Lee Seung-hoon won the men's mass start at 7:58.22. Switzerland's Livio Wenger was second. Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida took the women's race in 8:53.49. China's Guo Dan was second.