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On the third day of a World Cup speedskating meet in Kazakhstan, Americans Heather Richardson and Brittany Bowe blew away the field.
The Utah-based teammates blitzed the rest of the women in the 1,000 meters in Astana on Sunday, with Richardson winning in 1 minute, 14.22 seconds and Bowe finishing second in 1:14.78 — both better than the old track record of 1:14.82 set last year by Canada's Christine Nesbitt.
"I'm happy to have gotten a solid race in the last day here," Richardson said, "and that Brittany and I were able to go 1-2 again."
Nobody else was inside 1:15 — only three others were inside 1:16 — and the finishes gave U.S. Speedskating three golds and a silver at the third meet of the season. The Americans will compete next weekend in Berlin before heading home to the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns for final preparations for the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia.
Richardson and Bowe finished in reverse order two weeks ago in Utah, where Bowe set the world record of 1:12.58. Their finish in Astana marked the fourth time this season they've shared the podium.
"It's always fun stepping on the podium with Heather," Bowe said.
Fellow American Tucker Fredricks finished fifth in the second of two 500-meter races contested over the weekend, clocking 35.00 after finishing sixth with a 35.02 in the first 500 on Saturday, while Jonathan Kuck was sixth in the men's 10,000 in 13:23.54 — 21.16 seconds behind winner Sven Kramer of the Netherlands.