Marathon skaters Bart Hoolwerf and Esther Kiel secured victories in the fourth Grand Prix sprint races held on natural ice in Lulea, Sweden, despite challenging conditions with temperatures reaching minus 19 degrees Celsius.
NOS Schaatsen, a Dutch news outlet, reported on the event, highlighting the performances of the athletes and the race conditions.
In the men’s race, Hoolwerf triumphed in a close mass sprint, finishing ahead of his teammate Jorian Ten Cate and competitor Jeroen Janissen. The race covered a distance of 50 kilometers under harsh weather conditions. For the women, Kiel outpaced Janne Berkhout and Tessa Snoek over a 40-kilometer course. Both races were part of the six-event Grand Prix series that marathon skaters compete in annually on natural ice abroad.
The initial three races of the series take place on the Austrian Weissensee, while the final three are held on the Gulf of Bothnia near Lulea, Sweden. Due to forecasted extremely low temperatures between minus 15 and minus 20 degrees Celsius, organizers decided to move the shorter sprint competitions forward by one day. Consequently, races originally scheduled for Wednesday were shifted to Thursday, with the final day of competition set for Saturday, when the overall standings will be finalized.
