Russian returns from drugs ban to set world speed skating record in Calgary

World champion Pavel Kulizhnikov broke the men's 500m world record in Calgary ©Getty Images

Russia’s Pavel Kulizhnikov broke the men’s 500 metres world record on the final day of competition at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Speed Skating in Calgary.

The 21-year-old, who served a two-year doping ban from 2012 to 2014, had produced the third fastest time in history over the distance on the first day of the event but made full use of the fast ice at the Canadian Olympic Oval to dip below Jeremy Wotherspoon’s eight-year-old record.

Kulizhnikov was alongside Finland’s Mika Poutala in the final pairing on the ice but showed no ill effects of the wait as he stormed to victory in a time of 34.00sec, shaving 0.03 off Wotherspoon’s mark.

At the 2012 World Junior Championships in Obihiro, Japan, then 17-year Kulizhnikov won gold in the 1,000m and bronze in the 500m but was later disqualified after testing positive for the stimulant methylhexanamine.

He claimed that he had ingested the drug in a nasal spray for colds but was banned for two-years, meaning he missed last year's Winter Olympics.

Canadian skaters William Dutton and Alex Boisvert-Lacroix joined the reigning 500m world champion on the podium after clocking times of 34.25 and 34.30 respectively in front of their home crowd.

Brittany Bowe broke the 10-year-old women's 1,500m world record ©Getty Images

Having improved her 1,000m world record yesterday, only to see it beaten by her fellow American Heather Richardson-Bergsma in the following heat, Brittany Bowe was able to claim revenge over the 1,500m as another world record fell in Calgary.

Bowe, skating against Richardson-Bergsma, started slower than her rival but picked up pace in the closing stages to finish in a time of 1min 51.59sec bettering the 10-year-old record of Canada’s joint-most decorated Olympian, Cindy Klassen, by 0.20.

“I tried to channel all that energy and focus on good technique and solid racing” Bowe said, regarding her frustration of losing her 1,000m record.

“Cindy is a legend and I did my best to come out on top today and to have a world record attached to that race is a great honour.”

Richardson-Bergsma joined Bowe on the podium having finished second in 1:52.27, while the Czech Republic’s Martina Sábliková claimed bronze in a national record of 1:54.18.

The American pairing were able to resume their rivalry over the shorter 500m event but China’s Hong Zhang proved too good for the duo, clocking 36.94 to take gold ahead of South Korea’s Sang-Hwa Lee and Richardson-Bergsma, who finished in 36.99 and 37.06 respectively.

South Korea ended final day with a title as Bo-Reum Kim made up for Lee’s disappointment by winning the women’s mass start race ahead of The Netherlands’ Irene Schouten and Canada’s Ivanie Blondin.

In the corresponding men’s event, Belgium’s Bart Swings overtook the fast starting Dutchman Jorrit Bergsma in the closing stages to win gold, with the pair being joined on the podium by Reyon Kay, who secured New Zealand’s maiden World Cup medal.

Swings was unable to replicate his success in the men’s 1,500m event as he was forced to settle for silver in a time of 1:42.48 with Russia’s Denis Yuskov skating a national record of 1:41.88 to win gold.

America’s Joey Mantia took bronze in 1:42.48.