Dutch delight as Leerdam and Krol claim World Sprint titles

Beijing 2022 1000m silver medallist Jutta Leerdam claimed the women's sprint title at the World Speed Skating Championships Hamar 2022 on Friday (5 March).

Leerdam edged her Dutch compatriot, 500m specialist Femke Kok, and Austria's Vanessa Herzog, who was fourth in the 500m in Beijing.

The sprint format valued consistent performances over two days of competition with one 500m and 1000m race on each day, with the winner determined by the total points after all four races.

The 23-year-old from Heerenveen topped the standings after all four races with a total of 151.140 ahead of Kok (151.215) and Herzog (152.225).

Leerdam became the third Dutch woman to win the world sprint title following on from Marianne Timmer in 2004 and Jorien ter Mors in 2018.

Canada's Laurent Dubreuil, who won 1000m silver in Beijing and led the pack after the first day of competition, had to drop out of the event after testing positive for COVID-19.

The Netherlands' 1000m Olympic gold medallist Thomas Krol seized his opportunity and became the sixth Dutchman to claim the world sprint title.

Teammate and 2017 world champion Kai Verbij took silver with three-time Olympic medallist Haavard Holmefjord Lorentzen rounding out the podium.

Krol set a new 1000m track record of 1:08.16 on the first day and followed that up with a time of 1:08.51, which was enough to propel him to overall victory despite finishing in seventh and eighth in the 500m races.

Beijing 500m bronze medallist Morishige Wataru finished in first on the second day of the 500m, but was unable to break into the medals.

The action continues in Hamar on Saturday and Sunday with the men's and women's all-round and team sprint events.