St. Moritz, Switzerland, January 12, 2020: The speed skating competition at the Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games exploded into life on Sunday with gold medals for Japan’s Yudai Yamamoto and Isabel Grevelt of the Netherlands in the men’s and women's 500m races.
Yamamoto, a 17-year-old speedster from the winter sports hotbed of Hokkaido, carved across the finish line on the spectacular St. Moritz Speed Skating Oval in 36.42 seconds, ahead of silver medallist Nil Llop Izquierdo of Spain and Xue Zhiwen of China in third.
Grevelt, 17, took gold in 40.57, followed home 0.5 seconds later by China's Wang Jingyi and Japan's Yukino Yoshida.
Yamamoto’s victory in the men’s event followed high-speed drama in the final pairing of Pavel Taran (RUS) and Sebas Diniz (NED). The highly regarded 17-year-old Dutchman tumbled to the ice, handing Japan a first-place finish in the final rankings.
“This is my first time skating on a lake. I think it was very difficult because there were cracks in it. But it was not a problem for me,” said Yamamoto.
Yamamoto was not alone in having to manage an unfamiliar environment. Built into the ice on Lake St. Moritz, the natural track made life difficult for a field of athletes more used to racing across the perfect surface of an indoor oval.
For men’s bronze medallist Xue, a deep scar on his cheek served as a reminder that speed skating is a high-velocity sport in which cuts and bruises are an occupational hazard.
“I used to be a short track skater and injured my face,” he said. “The skater in front of me fell on the ice and the blade slashed me.
“Today I just did my normal training and did my best to win the medal. I will tell my parents and celebrate because it’s a very good start to the year. But tomorrow I will be focused on the 1500m.”