Davis, Nesbitt win World Cup 1,000-meter races

HEERENVEEN, Netherlands (AP)—Shani Davis won the 1,000-meter World Cup speedskating race on Sunday for his second individual victory of the weekend.

The racing was overshadowed by the news that three-time Olympic gold medalist Marianne Timmer of Netherlands is out with a broken left heel from a fall on Friday and will probably miss the Vancouver Games.

Davis finished in 1 minute, 8.48 seconds to edge Simon Kuipers of Netherlands. Davis won the 1,500 on Friday and was also on the U.S. team that tied for first with the Netherlands in the men’s pursuit.

Kuipers finished in 1:09.06 and Mo Tae-Bum of South Korea was third in 1:09.11.

Christine Nesbitt of Canada won the women’s 1,000 in 1:15.47 followed by Dutch skaters Annette Gerritsen and Natasja Bruintjes.

The 35-year-old Timmer is one of the stars of the powerful Dutch speedskating team. She won her first Olympic 1,000-meter title at the 1998 Nagano Games, where she also took gold in the 1,500. She defended her title in the 1,000 at the 2006 Olympics in Turin.

Initial tests after Timmer fell in a 500-meter World Cup race suggested she had a light rupture of a tendon in her left ankle and could be back on the ice in four weeks.

But Jac Orie, Timmer’s coach, said an MRI exam on Sunday morning showed breaks in Timmer’s heel that will require 12 weeks to heal.

“This season is over,” Orie said at Thialf Stadium. “She’s terribly upset.”

Asked if Timmer had a chance of defending her 1,000 title at the Vancouver Olympics in February, Orie said: “It’s not realistic. She can’t put any weight on the foot for weeks.”

Timmer told Dutch broadcaster NOS her first thought on hearing the result was the Olympics.

“That is the worst thing. The games have been in my mind for years,” she said.

Davis extended his unbeaten run to four races in World Cup 1,000 and 1,500 events this season.

Nesbitt, the reigning world champion at 1,000 meters, made it two wins out of two World Cup races this season, following her victory last week in Berlin. She also was second in the 1,500 on Saturday.

Without Timmer, the Dutch women’s pursuit team ended second behind Canada, which set a track record of 3:00.39. Russia was third.

In the men’s pursuit, the Netherlands, without sick star Sven Kramer, tied for victory with the United States team of Davis, Chad Hedrick and Trevor Marsicano. Both teams finished the 3,200-meter race in 3:43.94.