2013 Speed Skating Worlds: Medal results and records

Analyzing the Top-10 of the medalled countries at the 2013 Speed Skating Worlds

Pos.	Nation					Total	Diff. /2012
01		COL	32	18	2	52		+11
02		ITA	5	6	10	21		-5
03		BEL	4	2	3	9		+4
04		TPE	3	4	7	14		+3
05		FRA	1	3	5	9		0
06		NED	1	2	1	4		-4
07		VEN	1	1	5	7		+7
08		NZL	1	1	1	3		0
09		CHN	0	5	1	6		+5
10		GER	0	2	3	5		-1
11		KOR	0	1	5	6		-11
12		CHL	0	1	2	3		-4
12		USA	0	1	2	3		0
14		ESP	0	1	1	2		-1

1^st: Colombia dominating… and improving

With 52 medals won in 2013 out of the 144 available, Colombia has increased its collection by 11 medals compared to 2012, seizing 36% of the medals in play! By the way, Colombia has also broken 4 world records out of 9 set records.

On track, the Colombian skaters get 16 out of the 21 gold medals available!

But what should be remembered of the Oostende Worlds (Belgium) is the brazen success in the Junior Categories. Now, the Colombians are present on nearly all fronts. They get 8 gold medals more than in 2012, breaking their own absolute record which was of 29 gold medals until now!

Question: Has the European level dropped or the South-American level improved? According to us the answer would be somewhere in-between. The debate is open…

2^nd: Italy – Slightly less good

Still at the second place of the ranking, Italy sees its overall number of medals slightly reduced with 21 medals instead of 26 in 2012. Let’s remind that the Worlds were taking place… in Italy! The Juniors had won a lot of medals at home in 2012, supported by their public. They were less determined this year, for example talented Linda Rossi had to wait for the 500m to beat the Colombians.

3^rd: Belgium getting better… largely due to Bart Swings

It is a known fact, the hosting country always does better performances. The principle was confirmed in Oostende where Belgium gets 4 medals more than last year in Italy. Yet, the Belgians owe their 4 titles to SuperBart on fire who joined the ranks for the Worlds. Belgium goes from the 4^th place of the 2012 medal ranking to the 3^rd place in 2013.

4^th: Taipei on its way to the top

Here is a nation that should be closely looked after! The Taiwanese collected 3 medals more than in 2012, including 2 golds (Senior women’s relay and 10 km P/E). Taipei seems able to create a stir on track. Let’s not forget the new 500 m world record set by Weilin Lo and that of the elimination race by Yang Hochen!

The rising generation shows a strong potential in the Junior Women’s with Chen Yenpo and Yihsuan Liu….

5^th: France does a nice catching up at the ranking… with the same number of medals

After disappointing World Games, it seems that the French peak of form arrived for the Worlds in Oostende. They win as many medals as in 2012 but go from the 9^th to the 5^th place at the general ranking. The Colombian roundup must have caused more damage to the other nations. Just like in 2012, the French only brought back one world title, that of the elimination race on road with Alexis Contin.

On the whole, and for several years, the French have been stagnating around the 5^th place of the ranking.

6^th: The Netherlands

The Netherlands loses 4 medals and falls one place at the general ranking. The Kamminga Brothers especially, Mulder and Manon, were less convincing. The Netherlands is saved by the great feat of Ariens Crisjpin at the marathon. A better-stocked prize list was expected though, after the remarkable performances of the Dutch at the European Championships.

7^th: The best climb up goes to Venezuela!

Venezuela enters the Top-10 of the medalled countries with great pomp! Here is one more South American nation that will have to be taken into account in the coming years. From 0 medals to 7 including one gold, it gets the 7^th place at the general ranking. Let’s keep a close eye on Cindy Cortes and Luis Delgado! Maybe that the brief visit of Yann Guyader as a coach helped them find their way?

8^th: New Zealand

New Zealand wins as many medals as in 2012. Peter Michael, the star of the team, had to face a hard competition. Still he seized the title at the 15 km elimination race and the world record of the competition.

Let’s note that legendary Kalon Dobbin is still very well ranked in races, he knows how to help the other skaters take advantage of his experience. Nicole Begg is back in the saddle leading the packs after hard years of injuries.

9^th: China relying on Guo Dan

China goes from the 13^th place at the 2012 medal ranking to the 9^th place in 2013, entering the Top-10 too. The essential of the performance rests on Guo Dan’s shoulders both in 2012 and in 2013. This year, Guo Dan “only” won silver medals without managing to reach the gold facing formidable Italian Francesca Lollobrigida.

10^th: Germany can do better

Germany steps backwards in 2013. The Germans are 10^th at the general ranking while they were 6^th in 2012. They didn’t win any gold this year. However let’s note the improvement of the German skaters with Félix Rijhnen who does a good 2013 season, Simon Albrecht with a very high potential and promissing Laetishia Schimek.

Counter-performance for South Korea (11^th)

South Korea is probably the country that suffered the most this year in falling down to the 11^th place of the medal ranking whereas they were 3^rd last year! The Koreans didn’t get any gold medal this year whereas they had been shining on track in 2012 with 5 world titles. From 17 medals in 2012, the Land of the Morning Calm falls to 6. Yet the next generation seems promissing. Korea is probably in a transition period… We are far from 2011 when Korea rivaled Colombia.

The other nations

Chile loses ground, winning less medals than in 2012 and in 2011, especially bronze medals. However, the Chileans are still able to leave their marks on races. And they still seem to be in full progress. In road sprint, Seniors Maria Jose Moya and Emanuelle Silva fought and got the bronze behind the stars of the discipline.

The USA are 12^th, winning as many medals as in 2012 but improving by 4 places at the general ranking.

Conclusion

From a general point of view, there were 14 medalled nations in 2013 against 16 in 2012. Should we deduce that the level gap tends to grow despite an increasing number of participating nations in 2013? 51 countries were represented in Oostende against less than 40 in San-Benedetto-Del-Tronto in 2012.

Let’s note a geographical shift of performances. Except for Colombia which has always called the tune in speed skating, the European part has first been encroached by Asia then now by Latin America, which will probably be the #1 continent in speed skating in the future.

According to the information we have, the 2014 Worlds may take place in Colombia… The South-American performances are not about to drop!

By the way, huge congratulations to the organization of the Oostende Worlds and to its 230 volunteers who managed to set up a quality event.

The records

Here is the list of the records set on the Oostende track and officially validated by the FIRS. Four out of the nine records set during the 2013 Worlds are Colombian.

Distance	type	category	Time	Name	Country
300m	piste	senior ladies	25,993	Yersy Puello		COL
300m	piste	senior men	23,896	Andres Felipe Munoz		COL
500m	piste	senior ladies	43,886	Paola Andrea Segura		COL
500m	piste	senior men	40,114	Weilin Lo		TPE
1000m	piste	senior men	1:21,596	Bart Swings		BEL
10km point/elimination race	piste	seniors ladies	15:26,970	Yang Hochen		TPE
10km point/elimination race	piste	senior men	14:23,546	Fabio Francolini		ITA
15km elimination	piste	senior men	22:02,458	Peter Michael		NZL
200m	route	senior ladies	17,677	Yersy Puello		COL

Links

our page dedicated to the 2013 World Championships of Roller Speed-Skating

Summary of medals (track)

Summary of medals (road)

By Alfathor
Translation: Chloé Seyres
Photos: Oostende2013 & mediaskates.com