2 in a row! Kulizhnikov & Voronina smash records to clinch 1000m and 5000m gold at speed skating worlds

Team Russia continues to take the ISU Speed Skating World Championship in Salt Lake City by storm, with Natalia Voronina setting a world record in the women’s 5,000m, and Pavel Kulizhnikov following suit in the men’s 1,000m.

Russian speed skating ace Kulizhnikov clocked a time of 1:05.69 to set a new mark in the 1,000m on Saturday, his second triumph in as many days after he claimed gold in the shortest speed skating distance (500m) on Friday.

Olympic champion from the Netherlands Kjeld Nuis finished second; Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil came in third.

Natalia Voronina, who hit the ice shortly before her titled teammate, got her first taste of world championship glory.

Voronina, who clocked a world record time of 6:39.02, became the first woman to beat 6:40.00 at that distance, a milestone in itself, and the first Russian ever to claim the women’s 5,000m gold at the world championships.

Natalia Voronina set a world record to win gold at the women’s 5000m

With her stellar performance, she beat veteran Martina Sablikova in what was the Czech’s first loss at that distance since 2007.

Sablikova had to settle for silver; Esmee Visser from the Netherlands rounded out the top three.

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