Record blade makes World Cup debut

At the Berlin ISU World Cup, held last weekend, the Marchese Record made its international longtrack debut

After claiming two silver medals at the Dutch National championships, Bob de Jong continued his run of podium placements at the World Cup. After a hectic start in which De Jong almost touched Sven Kramer when changing lanes, he managed to find the right rhythm again and finished strongly for third.

Bob de Jong finishes 4,5 seconds behind winner Sven Kramer in the 5,000 meters

Kramer - favorite in recent years to claim distance gold medals in Vancouver - put together a convincing win (6.14,69), ahead of Norwegian Håvard Bøkko in second (6.17,17) and De Jong third (6.19,22). De Jong's performance is the first World Cup podium for the Marchese RECORD blade that he has been testing in the past few weeks with head-turning results.

Robert Lehmann (pictured) and Jörg Hugo Dallmann also raced on the Marchese Record during the first World Cup of the Olympic season

German team members Robert Lehmann and Jörg Hugo Dallmann also made their international debut on the Record blades. Lehmann finished 17th at the 5,000 meters and Dallmann 23rd at the 1,500 meters.

A big weekend for Shane Dobbin:
improving his personal best on the 5,000 meters by 8 seconds to 6.24,88

One of the big surprises of the weekend was New Zealander Shane Dobbin. The CadoMotus World Team member and 4-time inline World Champion is focusing on the Vancouver Games in 2009 and improved his personal best time in the B-group on the 5,000 meters by 8 seconds, to 6.24,88 - a time that would have gained him 9th position in the A-group.

Links:

Results first ISU World Cup - Berlin
Pictures by DESG.de