Americans top the podium at the conclusion of racing

It was Olympian Tucker Fredricks (Janesville, WI) and Olympic gold-medalist Shani Davis (Chicago, IL) earning first-place finishes in their races during the first ISU World Cup for long track speedskating in Berlin, Germany. It was Davis's second gold medal for the weekend's event as he beat the second-place finisher (Netherlands skater Havard Bokko) in the Men's 1500m by more than a full second, finishing with a time of 1:44.47. Demonstrating his blistering speed, Davis set a new track record in the 1500m.

Davis was paired with the current U.S. Allround Champion Chad Hedrick (Spring, TX) in the 1500m in the second-to-last pair of the event. Hedrick skated aggressively from the very beginning but fell behind at the end to finish in 10^th position. Trevor Marsicano (Ballston Spa, NY) was paired with Enrico Fabris (Italy) in the final pair and seemed poised for a good race. Marsicano, who has battled illness through the week, finished in 17^th.

Fredricks felt much stronger today after being under the weather on Friday and redeemed his 14^th place finish as he won the second 500m event with a time of 35.06. He is ranked third overall for the Men's 500m following this first World Cup. Brent Aussprung (Madison, WI) also skated the 500m A Final but stumbled on the start and wasn't able to generate a strong opening speed like he did on Friday's race. He finished in 20^th place and is looking forward to next weekend's events.

"I'm extremely pleased with the overall results this weekend," said Ryan Shimabukuro, U.S. National Sprint Head Coach. "It feels good to start with a strong momentum this season but this is just the beginning. We're not losing focus on the main prize which is in February."

After being promoted to the 500m A Division after yesterday's races, Heather Richardson (High Point, NC) skated well along with Olympian Elli Ochowicz (Palo Alto, CA). Although both skaters made small mistakes in their 100m opener, they skated strong with Ochowicz finishing in 14^th and Richardson close behind in 15^th. Lauren Cholewinski (York, SC) took fifth place in the 500m B Division with Rebekah Bradford (Apple Valley, MN) finishing in 15^th and Olympian Maria Lamb (substituting for Jen Rodriguez) finishing in 26^th.

Based on last season's results, no ladies qualified for the 1500 A group but Rodriguez (Miami, FL) skated an aggressive and smooth race in the 1500m B group which gave her the first place victory and a promotion to the A division next week in Heerenveen. Jilleanne Rookard (Woodhaven, MI), Nancy Swider-Peltz, Jr. and Maria Lamb also competed in the event finishing in 10^th, 11^th and 23^rd respectively.

In the Men's 500m B division, Davis put in a commanding race, overcoming a slow start to finish in second place. His combined points from today and Friday's races should be good enough for a promotion to the A division next week. Olympian Nick Pearson (West Allis, WI) stepped it up and finished in a strong fourth place, missing the podium by only .05. Matt Plummer (St. Louis, MO) finished in 23^rd.

Two U.S. skaters raced in the Men's 1500m B Final. Brian Hansen (Glenview, IL) and Jonathan Kuck (Champaign, IL) attacked their races and finished in fifth and seventh place.

The second ISU World Cup event will be held next weekend in Heereveeen, Netherlands. For complete results visit www.usspeedskating.org. Follow USS on Twitter @usspeedskating.