Patrick Beckert, the speed skating hopeful Patrick Beckert, just under three weeks before the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang (9. till 25. February) missed a podium position. At the World Cup on his home track in Erfurt, the 27-year-old finished fifth on Saturday at over 5000 m in 6:19.53 minutes.
Beckert was happy with the result:”I wanted to do a technically good run, the ranking was of secondary importance,” said Beckert:”I can be satisfied with the time.
The gap to the outstanding winner of the day, Sverre Lunde Pedersen, was nevertheless comparatively large. The Norwegian set a track record in 6:14.66 minutes and improved the almost nine years old record of the Dutch superstar Sven Kramer (6:16.02). Kramer, one of the gold favourites in South Korea, had decided not to start in Erfurt.
Second place went to the Italian Nicola Tumolero (6:16,11) ahead of world record holder Ted-Jan Bloemen (Canada/6:17,11), who won the direct duel with Beckert. The second German starter, Moritz Geisreiter from Inzell, had to settle for tenth place in 6:22.42.”That’s not what I wanted,” said Geisreiter:”The legs were a bit tight.