American Heather Bergsma breaks women’s 1000 record

The American crossed in a time of one minute 51.59 seconds at the Olympic Oval.

Russia’s Pavel Kulizhnikov and American Brittany Bowe set world records to capture the men’s 500m and women’s 1,500m at the speedskating World Cup stop in Calgary, Canada, on Sunday. Richardson-Bergsma won the 500-meter world title, silver in the 1,000 and at the world sprint championships, and bronze in the 1,500, plus she finished second and third in the 1,500 and 500 world cup standings.

“Falling just short of the gold and world record [on Saturday] definitely put a few extra motivation in my body”, Bowe said.

Bowe had held the previous record 1:12.58 since 2013.

“Cindy’s in a class of her own, she’s a legend, so to be able to get that is quite an honour”, Bowe said.

Bergsma, from High Point, North Carolina, was second Sunday in the 1,500 in 1:52.27.

This is the first Russian world record in speed skating since 1989, when Igor Zhelezovsky clocked a record time (1.12’58) in a 1000 m race. South Korea’s Lee Sang-hwa was second in 36.99, followed by Bergsma in 37.06, and Bowe in 37.12.

William Dutton and Alex Boisvert-Lacroix also gave the home fans something to cheer with second and third-place finishes.