Brittany Bowe wins speedskating World Cup 1,000 meters
HEERENVEEN, Netherlands (AP) Brittany Bowe beat teammate Heather Richardson-Bergsma into second place on Saturday as the Americans continued their domination of the 1,000-meter event on the speedskating World Cup circuit.
Bowe made it three straight victories for the season by finishing in 1 minute, 14.49 seconds to beat Richardson-Bergsma by 0.84 seconds. Marrit Leenstra of the Netherlands was third in 1:15.77.
Richardson-Bergsma's husband Jorrit Bergsma also had to settle for second place in the men's 5,000 meters. Two-time Olympic champion Sven Kramer beat his Dutch rival with a time of 6:14.99.
In his 100th competitive 5,000-meter race, Kramer pulled away from Bergsma over the final two laps and was 1.42 seconds ahead at the finish line. Bart Swings of Belgium was third, nearly six seconds slower than Kramer's winning time.
''I'm happy with how things are going,'' Kramer told Dutch broadcaster NOS. ''There is progression.''
Pavel Kulizhnikov, who won Friday's 500, led a Russian 1-2 in the men's 1,000 meters, finishing in 1:08.16 to beat teammate Denis Yuskov by 0.43 seconds.World Cup leader Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands was third, two hundredths of a second behind Yuskov. American veteran Shani Davis was fourth.
The Netherlands looked on course for victory in the women's team pursuit until briefly falling out of formation and losing speed close to the end in a head-to-head duel with Japan.
The Japan team kept its shape to cross the line in 2:59.58, 1.68 seconds ahead of the Netherlands. Poland finished third.
The victory left Japan alone atop the World Cup standings after sharing the lead with the Dutch going into Saturday's race at the Thialf Oval.
