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Joey Mantia Adds Second Speedskating World Cup Gold in Salt Lake City

by Alex Abrams

Joey Mantia competes in the 1500 meter mens final during the ISU World Cup Speed Skating on Jan. 23, 2021 in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

 

Joey Mantia still had more to accomplish this weekend. 
The two-time Olympian wasn’t satisfied with simply becoming the oldest male speedskater to win the 1,500 meters at a long track speedskating world cup.
Mantia followed up Saturday’s record-breaking performance by helping the U.S. win the men’s team pursuit Sunday in 3 minutes, 34.473 seconds in Salt Lake City.
Mantia, Emery Lehman and Casey Dawson finished 1.92 seconds faster than Norway (3:36.398), which earned the silver medal, and 3.51 seconds better than bronze-medalist Italy (3:37.989).

 

 

The victory capped a strong weekend for Mantia, who on Saturday edged China’s Ning Zhongyan by 0.23 seconds to win the 1,500 in 1:41.154.
At 35 years, 300 days, Mantia broke American Derek Parra’s record for the oldest man to win the 1,500 at a world cup event. Parra was 32 years, 246 days old when he earned a victory at a world cup in Erfurt, Germany, in November 2002.

Brittany Bowe, meanwhile, was looking forward to returning from the European leg of the world cup season and racing in Salt Lake City.
She came away from this weekend slightly disappointed, though.
Bowe earned a bronze medal in the women’s 1,000 meters Saturday, finishing in 1:12.608.
Her time was 0.77 seconds behind Japan’s Miho Takagi, who won the gold in 1:11.834. The Netherlands’ Jutta Leerdam took silver at 1:12.254.
Bowe and Takagi, the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist in the 1,000, have been jockeying for the top spot on the world cup standings this season. Bowe admitted after Saturday’s race that she had hoped for a better finish than third when she took the ice at the Utah Olympic Oval.
“Obviously, not what I had wished for, but a solid race,” Bowe told The Associated Press. “I just didn't get the speed going on that first lap. Miho had a great race, a great first lap. Jutta also had a great race, so I'll have to take the third for now, but always going for the gold.”
Bowe has gotten off to a strong start to the season as she makes a push to qualify for her third Winter Olympics, in Beijing in February. She helped the U.S. earn the bronze in team pursuit at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
She will turn 34 on Feb. 24, just a few days after the Beijing Olympics end.

Alex Abrams


Alex Abrams has written about Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.