Shani Davis of the United States shattered the course record in winning the 1,000-meter race at the season-opening speedskating World Cup on Friday.
Davis clocked 1 minute, 8.53 seconds for an overwhelming win over Yevgeny Lalenkov of Russia, who was second in 1:09.11. Mun Joon of South Korea was third in 1:09.43.
The South Koreans went 1-2 in the 500, with Lee Kang-seok winning in 34.80 seconds. Lee Kyou-hyuk was second in 35.02, with Japan’s Keiichiro Nagashina third in 35.13.
Another course record fell in the women’s 3,000 when Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic covered the distance in 4:00.75. Masako Hozumi of Japan was second in 4:06.25 and Stephanie Beckert of Germany third in 4:07.17.
German stars Claudia Pechstein and Anni Friesinger were not competing, the first because of a doping suspension and the second because of injury.
