Nuis, Wust earn gold in 1,500m at world championships

KEARNS, Utah (AP) — Netherlands speedskaters Kjeld Nuis and Ireen Wust took gold Sunday on the final day of the ISU World Single Distance Championships at the Utah Olympic Oval.

Nuis won the men’s 1,500 meters with a time of 1 minute, 41.66 seconds, and countrymate Tomas Krol took silver after finishing in 1:41.73. American Joey Mantia earned bronze with a personal-best of 1:42.16.

Nuis, the world record holder in the 1,500 and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, earned his fourth world championship. Mantia, 34, earned his first podium finish at a world championship in the event.

“I started to think that I’m so old that I can time trial any more. Maybe there’s a little bit of hope left,” Mantia said. “I just went into today’s race with a lot of focus. With the mass start, I’m always thinking, ‘This is my day. This is my race.’ I think that helped fuel the fire for the 1,500 and put me in the right place leading into it.”

American Emery Lehman placed 16th in the men’s 1,500 with a time of 1:44.25.

Wust won the women’s 1,500 meters, finishing in 1:50.92. Russians Evgeniia Lalenkova and Elizaveta Kazelina rounded out the podium. Lalenkova earned silver with a time of 1:51.13. Kazelina took bronze in 1:51.41.

Wust, a five-time Olympic gold medalist, claimed her 21st career world championship. 14 of those titles have come in single distance events.

Americans Brittany Bowe and Kimi Goetz both finished outside the top 10 in the women’s 1,500. Bowe took 14th in 1:54.20. Goetz finished 21st overall with a personal-best of 1:55.25.

Canadian Ivanie Blondin finished in 8:14.02 to claim gold in the women’s mass start. South Korea’s Bo-Reum Kim took silver in 8:14.22 and Netherlands’ Irene Schouten earned bronze in 8:14.32 to round out the podium.

American Mia Kilburg-Manganello finished seventh in the women’s mass start.

Netherlands’ Jorrit Bergsma earned gold in the men’s mass start with a time of 7:39.49. Canadians Jordan Belchos and Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu rounded out the podium. Belchos took silver in 7:39.79. Gelinas-Beaulieu earned bronze in 7:40.27.

Mantia finished fifth in the men’s mass start, an event where he is a two-time world champion. With an hour between races, he admitted he did not have enough juice left to finish on the podium in the 16-lap race.

“It’s really tough, you have to be extremely fit to be able do that,” Mantia said. “I would say I’m fitter than I’ve ever been in my life, but I’m also older than I’ve ever been in my life. I’m older than most of the people out there, so it’s taking its toll.”

American Ian Quinn finished 12th in the men’s mass start.