Bergsma, Bloemen break world speedskating records
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) American Heather Bergsma broke the world record in the women's 1,500 meters Saturday in the World Cup speedskating event at the Utah Olympic Oval, and Canada's Ted-Jan Bloemen shattered the mark in the men's 10,000.
Bergsma, from High Point, North Carolina, finished in 1 minute, 50.85 seconds, to break the mark of 1:51.59 set by teammate Brittany Bowe last week in Calgary, Alberta. Bowe, from Ocala, Florida, also topped her previous mark with a time of 1:51.31.
Bergsma also broke Bowe's record in the 1,000 last week.
''I think we both push each other to a top level,'' Bergsma said. ''I know last weekend, I fed her fire after taking (the record) in the 1,000 and she went and did the 1,500.''
Her world-record effort came on the heels of a third-place finish in the 500 at 37.23. China's Hong Zhang won the event for the second straight day, finishing in 36.82. Bowe was second in 37.08.
Bloemen finished in 12:36.30 to break the record of 12:41.69 set by Sven Kramer of the Netherlands last week in Calgary.
''The second part (of the race), although it started to hurt pretty bad, I kept thinking, `OK, just stay with yourself. Keep doing what you're doing,''' Bloemen said.
Kramer was second in 12:44.26, and fellow Dutchman Jorrit Bergsma was third in 12:53.99.
Russia's Pavel Kulizhnikov of Russia won the men's 1,000 in 1:06.70. On Friday, Kulizhnikov broke the men's 500 record with a time of 33.98.
