Two world records in two days for Shani Davis

Peri Kinder - U. S. Speedskating March 09, 2009

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Photo: Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images

Shani Davis of the U.S.A. in action at the 1500m race during the Essent ISU speed skating World Cup at the Thialf Stadium on February 14, 2009 in Heerenveen, Netherlands.



Fast is the only word to describe Shani Davis's (Chicago, IL) and Trevor Marsicano's (Ballston Spa, NY) performance this weekend at the Essent ISU World Cup Final in Salt Lake City, UT. Marsicano skated in the second pair of the men's 1000m and shattered Pekka Koskela's (FIN) world record of 1:07 with a blindingly fast time of 1:06.88. That time stood for 22 minutes until Davis skated the last pair of the race with Denny Morrison (CAN). The excited crowd at the Utah Olympic Oval watched as Davis smashed Marsicano's record with a world record time of 1:06.42.

"I'm speechless at this point," said Ryan Shimabukuro, US Speedskating National Sprint Coach. "He needed a really perfect race like yesterday and he executed flawlessly. He made perfect splits and just crushed the word record."

"I was watching (Davis) and knew it was going to be close," Marsicano said. "I was very happy for him."

The record cemented an overall gold medal for Davis's world cup season in the 1000m. The U.S. men's team had three skaters in the top 20 for overall world cup rankings with Marsicano ending in 11th place and Nick Pearson (Vernon, WI) finishing in 20th.

Marsicano was up again for the men's 5000m and put down a time of 6:16.55, racing against Oystein Grodum (NOR). Marsicano finished in 7th place while Sven Kramer (NED) won the gold and overall world cup ranking with a time of 6:06.64, breaking a track record.

Elli Ochowicz (Palo Alto, CA) skated for the U.S. in the ladies' 500m event and finished her event in 16th place with a time of 38.54. Chinese skater Beixing Wang (CHN) took the gold for the 500m with a fast time of 37.25 but Jenny Wolf (GER) won the overall ranking. Ochowicz has struggled during the season but is making progress and is expected to come back strong for the 2009-2010 season.

"It's good to see that she's back in good physical condition but now we just need to see her execute her race properly," said Mike Kooreman, US Speedskating National Assistant Sprint Coach. "We'll see her back in contention again."

In the ladies' 1500m, Kristina Groves (CAN) skated off with a gold medal for the individual distance and the overall ranking. U.S. skater Maria Lamb (River Falls, WI) finished with a time of 2:02.05, ending in 18th place.

Team USA travels to Vancouver, Canada tomorrow to prepare for the World Single Distance Championships that will be held on March 12-15, 2009.

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