Denis Vasiliev comes fifth in the first Grand Prix of the season

The Russian speed skater loses his world record after more than two years

Last weekend, the long-awaited first Grand Prix of the season in speed skating took place. In the men's 500 meters, Denis Vasiliev of the Russian national team took fifth place. This season, Vasiliev is the only athlete who has skated the 500 meters under 34 seconds, and currently holds the Russian record for this distance (33.98 seconds, set in November 2020). However, in this race, Vasiliev lost to the Japanese skater Yuma Murakami, who won with a time of 34.99 seconds.

For more than two years, Vasiliev has held the world record in this discipline – 33.61 seconds. He set this record in December 2020 at the World Cup in Heerenveen. However, during this season, speed skater Pavel Kulizhnikov already surpassed Vasiliev's result in the first World Cup in Stavanger, Norway. In the second World Cup in Heerenveen, Netherlands, in the team sprint, Kulizhnikov skated the fastest lap of all participants with a time of 33.56 seconds, thus establishing a new world record.

In the all-around competition, the victory went to Patrick Roest of the Netherlands, who scored 149.643 points based on the results of performances at distances of 500, 1500, 5000, and 10000 meters. Second place was taken by local star Hallgeir Engebråten (151.565); third place was taken by American Ethan Cepuran (152.309). The Russian national team did not participate in the all-around competition.