LAKE PLACID, NY - American William Gebauer set a track record in the men's 500 meters and Team Poland made an impression in the men's team pursuit at the FISU World University Speed Skating Championships on Friday.
With temperatures in the single digits and a wind-chill below zero, Gebauer, a Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin native, topped the 17-skater field in a time of 36.74 seconds. Silver medalist Kota Mitsui of Japan finished with 36.80 and American Conor McDermott-Mostowy took bronze in 36.84.
After three days of running, the athletes completed the outdoor 400 m James C. combined to break six track records at the Sheffield Speed Skating Oval, where Eric Hayden won five gold medals at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
“The times I skated here over 40 years ago by Eric Hayden were insanely fast and they are still insanely fast, but I think with the level of international competition here, a track record is a must for a win, Gebauer said.
“In a sprint, you can go faster than you can control anything else,” said McDermott-Mostowy of Washington DC, “You always want to sleep, but I am more than happy to settle for bronze. Am."
Skaters from the Netherlands finished first and second in the women's 500, with Ju-Lin de Visser winning the gold medal in 41.22 and Heinee de Vries in 41.48. Germany's Lee-Sophie Scholz won the bronze medal with 41.64.
Poland came in the sixth FISU World University Championships speed skating event with 52 medals, leading the country, but was empty after the first two days at Lake Placid. That changed on Friday with two golds in the team's chase.
"We were waiting to win a medal and today we broke with two," said Dawid Burjikowski, who helped lead the Polish men to a winning time of 4 minutes, 13.56 seconds. "We are happy to have two medals and we hope to have more medals tomorrow."
Burjikowski, along with teammates Szyman Palka and Piotr Nalecki, finished by more than two seconds ahead of the Norwegian silver medalists, who skated to an eight-lap time of 4:15.76. The Netherlands won the bronze medal in 4:19.61.
Maja Plonczyk, Inga Wojtasik and Natalia Jabrzyk jointly won the gold medal for the women's team in 3:25.36. The Netherlands was second with 3:31.75, while Team USA took the bronze, as Ilsa Shobe of Roseville, Minnesota, Anna Quinn of St. Louis and Thalia Stehle of Seattle beat each other to a six-lap finish of 3:41.47. pushed in.
The competition will end on Saturday.