January 19, 2013 - 1:25 PM
CALGARY - Canadians Christine Nesbitt and Jamie Gregg won silver and bronze medals respectively Saturday at the Essent ISU World Cup speed skating event at Calgary's Olympic Oval.
Gregg, from Edmonton, skated a personal best 34.369 seconds in the 500 metres to finish just behind Mika Poutila of Finland, who won silver in 34.361. Jan Smeekens of the Netherlands took gold in 34.32, setting a Dutch record in the process.
Nesbitt, the world record holder in the 1,000 from London, Ont., captured silver at that distance one minute 13.67 seconds. Heather Richardson of the United States won in 1:13.09. Another American, Brittany Bowe, took bronze in 1:13.91.
Sang-Haw Lee of Korea threatened the world record to win the women's 500 in 36.99. Richardson claimed silver in 37.12 with current world-record holder Jing Yu of China capturing bronze in 37.28.
Nesbitt finished 10th in 37.88.
Yu skated a 36.94 in Calgary at the world sprint championships on Jan. 29, 2012 to set the current 500 mark. Nesbitt recorded the 1,000 standard of 1:12.68 the day before.
Shani Davis of the United States won the men's 1,000 on Saturday in 1:07.49. Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands was second in 1:07.64, followed by Nuis's countryman Michael Mulder in 1:07.87.
Winnipeg's Tyler Derraugh was the top Canadian in fourth (1:07.97).
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013