Two world records fall on dramatic day at ISU World Cup

Canada's Ted-Jan Bloemen won men's 10,000m gold in a world record time ©ISU

Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada and Heather Richardson of the United States both set world records on their way to gold on a thrilling day of action at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Speed Skating event in Salt Lake City.

Bloemen took full advantage of the rapid conditions by smashing Dutchman Sven Kramer’s 10,000 metres mark by five seconds, clocking a time of 13min 36.60sec.

His time proved far too strong for the rest of the field as Kramer, double Olympic champion over 5,000m, fended off the challenge of compatriot Jorrit Bergsma to take home silver.

“I thought I had a world record in my legs,” Bloemen said.

“But there was yet one pair to go (after his own race) and I never thought I could win.”

The result saw the Dutch-born Canadian climb to second in the overall standings on 170 points, 10 adrift of current leader Kramer.

Richardson, the 1000m world record holder who won the 500m world title in Heerenveen earlier this year, was also in record-breaking form as she powered to gold in the 1,500m race in 1:50.85, shaving 0.74 off teammate Brittany Bowe’s effort, which she achieved at last weekend’s World Cup event in Calgary.

Bowe was forced to settle for silver as she saw her record surpassed, with three-times Olympic champion and world record holder Martina Sábliková of the Czech Republic adding bronze to her 5,000m gold.

The American pair are tied at the summit of the overall leaderboard on 180 points while Sábliková is third on 140.

Heather Richardson of the United States was also in world record breaking form as she won the women's 1,500m race ©Getty Images

Elsewhere on a dramatic day at the event in Salt Lake City, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002, Russia’s Pavel Kulizhnikov continued his superb run of form by reigning supreme in the men’s 1000m to seal his second gold medal of the competition.

Kulizhnikov, who served a two-year doping ban between 2012 and 2014, which ruled him out of the Games in Sochi, posted a Russian record time of 1:06.70 to ensure he finished ahead of Dutch duo Kjeld Nuis and Gerben Jorritsma.

The victory for the 21-year-old saw him retain his World Cup lead on 180 points, with Jorritsma second and Nuis third.

China’s Hong Zhang picked up her second 500m win of the weekend as she recorded a time of 36.82 to edge Bowe while Richardson added another medal to the American total with bronze.

Hong, winner of the opening 500m race in a Chinese record time, leads the way on the overall standings as she has a 60 point advantage over Lee Sang-hwa with a total of 380 points.