The Junior World Championships took place on the Ritten.

Ritten: Spectacular team competitions round off Junior World Championships

The ISU Junior World Championships on the Ritten ended on Sunday with the team competitions (Team Pursuits, Team Sprints and Mixed Relay) and the mass start finals. In cloudy weather conditions, there was a lot to see, from a sensational victory to a new junior world record, and the competition weekend ended in world championship style.

09. February 2025

From: pm

The team pursuits began on Sunday morning in snowfall. And in the women's race, the number one speed skating country came out on top: The Netherlands (3.09,94:2,73 minutes) won with a lead of 5,75 seconds over Poland and 3.52,99 seconds over Japan. The Dutch trio Jasmijn Veenhuis, Rosalie Van Vliet and Britt Breider thus secured their home country the first gold medal at this Junior World Championship. In the men's race, Japan won the gold medal in the team pursuit. The trio Shomu Sasaki, Taiga Sasaki and Taiki Shingai put on a terrific performance and, with a winning time of 4,84:6,17 minutes, were a whopping XNUMX seconds ahead of the silver winners from the Netherlands. Bronze went to Norway, who were XNUMX seconds behind Japan.

The highly exciting team sprints continued, and Poland took the spotlight in the women's race. Led by the hugely talented Hanna Mazur (she has already collected three medals at the Junior World Championships on the Ritten), the Eastern European trio consisting of Wiktoria Dabrowska, Julia Grzywinksa and the aforementioned Mazur took gold ahead of Canada (+0,34 seconds) and South Korea (+0,45). In the men's race, there was a highly exciting duel for gold in the last heat, which was ultimately decided by the Norwegian trio Arne Lernes, Miika Johan Klevstuen and Dirik Eng Strand. With a winning time of 1.22,98 minutes, they beat Poland, who held out for a long time in the aforementioned last heat, but lost some time in the last lap around the Ritten ice ring and took silver, 0,37 behind. Bronze, on the other hand, went to Germany, which needed 1,22 seconds more than Norway for the three laps.

Huge surprise in the women's mass start

Just in time for the start of the mass start final, the snowfall on the Ritten stopped and there was a sensation in the women's race. Jessica Carolina Santos Rodrigues from Portugal was crowned Junior World Champion, and silver went to the Spaniard Ona Rodiguez Cornejo - both were far from a podium place in the previous competitions. They pulled away in the first five laps, while the favorites played around, but at the end of the ten laps around the ice ring of the Ritten Arena they were no longer able to catch up with the leading field. Bronze went to the American Marley Soldan, meaning there were three completely new faces on the podium.

The men's race was a completely different story, with Czech Metoděj Jílek building up an unassailable lead in the last two laps and winning gold. Jílek had already caused a sensation on Saturday when he stamped a new, outstanding junior course record onto the ice of Ritten over 5000 metres. Silver went to Japanese Shomu Sasaki, who crossed the finish line just one and a half seconds ahead of bronze winner, American William Silk - for both of them it was the first medal in an individual competition at this Junior World Championship.

Canada celebrates in the mixed relay

The mixed relay was held at the end of the Junior World Championships on the Ritten. The Canadian duo Julia Snelgrove and Jalen Doan won with a new junior world record of 3.05,16:0,29 minutes, ahead of the two Germans Sofie Adeberg and Finn Sonnekalb (+1,52) and the two Japanese Shizuko Okuaki and Sota Kubo (+XNUMX).

In addition to the numerous junior speed skaters, there were also satisfied faces among the organizers after the competition. "The last two weeks were exciting and eventful. On behalf of the OK team, I would like to thank all the volunteers from the bottom of my heart. They did a great job over these two weeks and provided excellent competition conditions. Special thanks go to the Ritten Arena team, especially the ice masters. The ice was in great condition. The weather brought everything that the Ritten has to offer in winter: sun, snow, rain and wind. But that didn't throw us or the athletes off track," OK President Adelheid Ramoser summed it up. The Olympics are the focus for the coming season: "The ice rink in the Ritten Arena will definitely be used by several national teams as a preparation location for the Olympics. We are already preparing for that," concluded Ramoser.

Junior World Championship on the Ritten, results:

Team Pursuit Women:
1. Netherlands (Veenhuis, Van Vliet, Breider) 3.09,94:XNUMX minutes
2. Poland (Braun, Mazur, Zawiska) +2,73 seconds
3. Japan (Sekiguchi, Tomoka Okuaki, Judo) +5,75

Team Pursuit Men:
1. Japan (Shomu Sasaki, Taiga Sasaki, Shingai) 3.52,99
2. Netherlands (Van Der Veen, Bendijk, Kolder) +4,84
3. Norway (Nordal, Strand, Andersen) +6,17

Team Sprint Women:
1. Poland (Dabrowksa, Grzywinksa, Mazur) 1.32,33
2. Canada (Champagne, Snelgrove, Van Horne) +0,34
3. South Korea (Jein Lee, Jung, Lim) +0,45

Team Sprint Men:
1. Norway (Lernes, Klevstuen, Strand) 1.22,98
2. Poland (Hostynski, Bielas, Sliwka) +0,37
3. Germany (Grabe, Engst, Sonnekalb) +1,22

Mass start women:
1. Jessica Carolina Santos Rodrigues (POR) 7.10,37
2. Ona Rodriguez Cornejo (ESP) 7.10,82
3. Marley Soldan (USA) 7.11,78

Mass start men:
1. Metoděj Jílek (CZE) 5.31,39
2. Shomu Sasaki (JPN) 5.33,08
3. William Silk (USA) 5.34,64

Mixed Relay:
1. Canada (Julia Snelgrove, Jalen Doan) 3.05,16
2. Germany (Sofie Adeberg, Finn Sonnekalb) +0,29
3. Japan (Shizuko Okuaki, Sota Kubo) +1,52