Podium appearances eluding U.S. speedskaters as a world record is set at Olympic Oval

Kearns • Joey Mantia sat on the pads inside the Utah Olympic Oval, trying to catch his breath as he stared forward in frustration. His partner in the final heat of the men’s 1,500-meter World Cup race Saturday afternoon took a few more celebratory laps in Kearns, because that’s what you do when you break a world record.

Russia’s Denis Yuskov kept on skating as the scoreboard inside the Oval blinked the phrase “world record” repeatedly. All Mantia could do was watch. The highlight of the 2017 ISU long track World Cup stop in Utah so far belongs to Yuskov.

“My hats off to him,” said Mantia after his fourth-place finish. “He skated a great race.”

The first two days of the World Cup here have been underwhelming for those who call “The Fastest Ice on Earth” home ice. Mantia’s fourth-place finish in the men’s 1,500 meters was the highest finish of any American skater entering Sunday’s finale. The U.S. has yet to podium.

Fourth place can be an excruciating position to walk away with, but as Mantia explained after, “I wasn’t just short. 1.7 seconds [out of first], I was pretty far off, but yeah, it sucks to not perform at home.”

Last week in Calgary, Mantia finished fourth as well. Even after winning a silver medal last month in Norway, he must remind himself that results now matter, but the long view is Pyeongchang, South Korea, and the 2018 Olympics in February.

“Anytime you get a top five this early, you’re within striking distance, and usually the guys that are peaking this early aren’t that good at the Games,” Mantia said, “so [I’ll] keep my head up and stay positive going forward.”

Mantia admitted he’s been under the weather this week but said he didn’t know if it had a bearing on his struggles in the final heat of the 1,500-meter final.

“Wasn’t really comfortable all day from the warmup to the lead-up to the race,” he said. “I put forth the effort, just didn’t have the times.”

The times haven’t been there all weekend for the U.S. skaters. At least so far.

A few minutes before he saw Yuskov break his 8-year-old record in the men’s 1,500 meters, American speedskating legend Shani Davis said his 13th-place finish (1:44.16) in the 1,500 was his best time of the year. The four-time Olympic medalist, now 35, said he’s starting to feel the mileage on his legs more and more after each race.

“It’s a lot harder than what it used to be,” he said, “but I would expect that as being in a sport for so long.”

Yuskov’s 1:41.02 barely topped Davis’ previous world record, set in December 2009, by .02 seconds.

When asked of his priorities ahead of the U.S. Olympic Trials in Milwaukee, Wis., the first week of January, the two-time gold medalist just smiled: “We just need to make sure to be top three.”

Make no mistake, though, Davis has his sights firmly set on Pyeongchang.

“I just want to get back there and give it one more try,” he said. “There’s nothing like the Olympic experience, going over there, competing for your country and trying to go out there, do your best and bring something home.”

Davis said his spirit is still young.

He’s still young at heart.

The challenges of speedskating still provide the drive.

“As long as I have that in me,” he said, “age doesn’t mean a thing.”

Sunday’s World Cup schedule includes the 1,000-meter final, women’s 3,000-meter final and the men’s 5,000-meter final.