Americans Brittany Bowe and home favourites Arjan Stroetinga and Irene Schouten of The Netherlands were also victors in the Thialf stadium.

Only Canada, Japan and South Korea have seen their speed skaters win the 500m title since its inaugural event in 1996, but a European victory looked likely in Heerenveen, with Dutch Olympic champion Michel Mulder and Kulizhnikov, who has dominated the event throughout the season, starting as favourites.

The two men lived up to their billing as Kulizhnikov set a personal best in his first race with his time of 34.383sec, while Mulder was well placed in third, just behind compatriot Hein Otterspeer.

Mulder assured himself of a medal after a second run, which saw the Dutchman lead the standings only the final pair left to race, after posting a combined total of 1min 09.622sec.

Kulizhnikov secured the title, though, posting 34.548 in the final race to win in a combined time of 1:08.931.

But Otterspeer finished outside of the medals after a loss of balance cost him dearly, with Mulder taking silver and Canada's Laurent Dubreuil bronze.

Meanwhile, Bowe, the newly crowned 1,000m women's champion, earned her second title of the weekend as she claimed gold in the 1,500m event, ahead of The Netherlands Ireen Wüst, who failed to win a gold at the Championships for only the second time since 2007, having to settle for three silvers in Heerenveen.

Bowe's compatriot Heather Richardson has proved to be her biggest challenger across the weekend and the American added a bronze to her gold and silver from the Championships.

Arjan Stroetinga and Irene Schouten earned two final day gold medals for The Netherlands
©Getty Images



The competition was rounded off with double Dutch success as Arjan Stroetinga outsprinted his nearest competition in the first-ever mass start to win in 7:30.64 with Italy's Fabio Francolini 0.06 seconds behind in the silver medal position and France's Alexis Contin in bronze. 

Irene Schouten also delighted the home crowd in the equivalent women's event, winning from Canada's Ivanie Blondin, who took silver, while another Dutchwoman, Mariska Huisman, secured bronze.

The race completed the Championships and also marked the final international event at the Thialf stadium in its current incarnation before renovation work commences.

Fittingly, The Netherlands ended the Championships as the top nation with 17 medals, five of them gold.

The United States finished second with a total of seven medals, including four golds.

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