Marcel Bosker and Gioya Lancee secured the national allround titles at the Daikin NK Allround Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen, with Bosker earning a ticket to next week’s World Allround Championships.
NOS Schaatsen, a Dutch news outlet, reports on the event.
In the men’s competition, Marcel Bosker successfully defended his lead during the 10,000-meter race, finishing with a margin of over thirteen seconds ahead of Remco Stam. Bosker also won the final distance race by about two seconds, despite Stam’s efforts to break away. Remo Slotegraaf secured the bronze medal, recording the fifth-best time on the 10,000 meters. Jorrit Bergsma was the fastest on that distance with a time of 12:52.76. A moment of uncertainty arose when Bosker inadvertently moved a starting block when exiting the first turn. Although such an action would usually lead to disqualification, the jury decided against it. Bosker expressed relief but stated that he would have accepted a disqualification as his own fault.
On the women’s side, Gioya Lancee claimed her first senior national title. She was third on the 5,000 meters but maintained a sufficient overall lead to secure the championship. Sanne in ‘t Hof and Melissa Wijfje rounded out the podium. With many top competitors absent, including Marijke Groenewoud, Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong, and Joy Beune—three skaters already qualified for the World Allround Championships—the competition opened opportunities for others. Groenewoud had announced her withdrawal beforehand, while Merel Conijn chose not to start the 3,000-meter race due to frustrations over the selection situation.
Lancee took the lead on Sunday by setting a personal best of 1:55.83 on the 1,500 meters, making it difficult for others to overtake her overall. During the 5,000 meters, Lancee’s time of 7:12.79 was enough to secure the title, while in ‘t Hof moved up from sixth to second place with the fastest time of 6:51.17. Jade Groenewoud lost her podium position to Wijfje after an unfortunate crossing, which required her to let Lancee pass during the race’s final lap.
