The first competition weekend of the 2014–15 ISU Speed Skating World Cup was held in the Meiji Hokkaido-Tokachi Oval in Obihiro, Japan, from Friday, 14 November, until Sunday, 16 November 2014.

Pavel Kulizhnikov of Russia made a successful World Cup debut by taking the silver medal in the men's first 500 m race on Friday, and then winning both the 1000 m race on Saturday and the second 500 m race on Sunday. Sven Kramer of the Netherlands won gold medals in both 5000 m and team pursuit.

Ireen Wüst of the Netherlands managed to win three gold medals over the weekend, in the women's 1500 and 3000 m races, and as part of the Dutch team in the team pursuit. She also won a silver medal in the 1000 m competition. Lee Sang-hwa of South Korea took the gold medal in both 500 m races.

No world records were set during the weekend, but in the women's 500 m, Vanessa Bittner of Austria set a new national record on both senior and junior level in the A division of the Sunday race, after having won the B division on Friday.

Martin Hänggi of Switzerland, at age 46, set a record as the oldest participant at a World Cup event when he skated in the 5000 m race.

Schedule The detailed schedule of events:  Date   Session   Events   Comment   Friday, 14 November   Morning   10:54: 5000 m men  11:54: 500 m women (1)  12:13: 500 m men (1)  13:00: 3000 m women   Division B   Afternoon   15:00: 5000 m men  16:22: 500 m women (1)  16:47: 500 m men (1)  17:32: 3000 m women   Division A   Saturday, 15 November   Morning   12:25: 1000 m women  13:07: 1000 m men   Division B   Afternoon   15:00: 1000 m women  15:30: 1000 m men   Division A   16:23: Team pursuit men  17:32: Team pursuit women   Sunday, 16 November   Morning   10:35: 1500 m women  11:28: 1500 m men  12:30: 500 m women (2)  12:49: 500 m men (2)   Division B   Afternoon   14:30: 1500 m women  15:23: 1500 m men  16:13: 500 m women (2)  16:40: 500 m men (2)   Division A   17:25: Mass start women  17:45: Mass start men  All times are JST (UTC+9).

Medal summary

Men's events Event Race # Gold Time Silver Time Bronze Time Report 500 m 1 Jan Smeekens 35.06 Pavel Kulizhnikov 35.16 Ruslan Murashov 35.24 2 Pavel Kulizhnikov 34.96 Jan Smeekens 35.09 Ryohei Haga 35.17 1000 m Pavel Kulizhnikov 1:09.23 Kjeld Nuis 1:09.27 Samuel Schwarz 1:09.77 1500 m Kjeld Nuis 1:45.97 Wouter olde Heuvel 1:46.52 Koen Verweij 1:46.90 5000 m Sven Kramer 6:20.90 Aleksandr Rumyantsev 6:23.56 Wouter olde Heuvel 6:24.03 Mass start Lee Seung-hoon 60 Kim Cheol-min 40 Bart Swings 20 Team pursuit Sven KramerWouter olde HeuvelDouwe de Vries 3:43.68 Lee Seung-hoonKim Cheol-minKo Byung-wook 3:47.15 Aleksandr RumyantsevDanila SemerikovDanil Sinitsyn 3:48.22 In mass start, race points are accumulated during the race. The skater with most race points is the winner.

Women's events Event Race # Gold Time Silver Time Bronze Time Report 500 m 1 Lee Sang-hwa 38.07 Nao Kodaira 38.18 Olga Fatkulina 38.50 2 Lee Sang-hwa 37.92 Nao Kodaira 38.06 Vanessa Bittner 38.33NR 1000 m Marrit Leenstra 1:16.23 Ireen Wüst 1:16.34 Li Qishi 1:16.54 1500 m Ireen Wüst 1:56.93 Marrit Leenstra 1:57.76 Yuliya Skokova 1:58.10 3000 m Ireen Wüst 4:04.91 Martina Sáblíková 4:06.11 Jorien Voorhuis 4:07.04 Mass start Ivanie Blondin 61 Nana Takagi 40 Irene Schouten 20 Team pursuit Ireen WüstMarrit LeenstraMarije Joling 3:02.54 Nana TakagiAyaka KikuchiMaki Tabata 3:04.78 Claudia PechsteinBente KrausGabriele Hirschbichler 3:06.51 In mass start, race points are accumulated during the race. The skater with most race points is the winner.

References