THE HAGUE, Jan. 13(Xinhua) -- Dutch speed skaters Sven Kramer and Ireen Wust won the men's and women's European Championships all-round titles on Sunday in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
Kramer, who ended seventh in the 500 meters and won the 5,000m on Friday, finished eighth on the 1,500m on Saturday and on Sunday he secured victory on the final distance, the 10,000m. Kramer became allround European champion for the sixth time. Dutchman Jan Blokhuijsen ended second and Norwegian Havard Bokko became third.
In the women's tournament Wust won the 1,500m on Sunday and finished second on the final distance, the 5,000m, after having finished fourth in the 500m and winning the 3,000m on Saturday. Wust finished ahead of fellow Dutch Linda de Vries and Diane Valkenburg.
The Netherlands swept the podium in the women's championships for the first time. The last country to claim the top three spots in the overall standings of this competition was Germany in 2005.
With Kramer winning the men's event and Wust claiming the women's event the Dutch managed to win both European titles for the first time since 2008 and for the fifth time in the history of the competition.
|
