Ragne Wiklund won the women’s 3000-meter race in 3 minutes and 58.75 seconds at the speed skating World Cup opener in Beijing on Friday, according to VG’s reporting from the event.
The 26-year-old Norwegian skater pulled away from the start in the sixth pair at the Chinese venue to claim the opening victory. Dutch competitor Marijke Groenewoud finished second in 3.59.06, trailing Wiklund by 31 hundredths of a second.
“Now she has truly set the standard. This was insanely good. She was incredibly good at pacing her race,” said Ida Njåtun, commentator for Viaplay.
Another Dutch competitor, Joy Beune, took third place with a time of 4.01.40. Wiklund was the sole Norwegian entrant in the 3000-meter field in Beijing.
Television cameras captured the winner concluding that there is no reason to alter her season schedule following her strong start. Last winter during the World Championships in Heerenveen, Wiklund competed on the 5000-meter distance.
“It is so wonderful to see. Even with the changes she has made through the summer, she still takes the win,” Njåtun added.
Wiklund clocked 4.02.29 in the 3000 meters to win across the 1500-, 3000-, and 5000-meter events in November at the Norwegian single-distance championships in Stavanger. During the previous winter season at the Olympics in Milan, Wiklund secured a silver medal on the 3000-meter distance.
She earned a silver medal in the 1500-meter event and a bronze medal in the 5000-meter competition in Italy, facing Italian veteran Francesca Lollobrigida, who has since retired ahead of the current season. Wiklund became world champion in the allround World Championships and captured gold medals in both the 1500-meter and 3000-meter events at the single-distances World Championships.