World Championships:

Two More Golds for USA
U.S. relay teams win final road events

By Robert "Just the Factoids" Burnson
Friday, Aug. 24, 2007

USA collected two more gold medals today at the 2007 World Speed Skating Championships with heart-stopping, come-from-behind victories in the men's and women's 5000-meter relays.

The wins in the hard-fought relay events suggest that the U.S. team is finally hitting its stride. But it won't have much longer to show its new found maturity: the championships in Cali, Colombia end tomorrow morning with the marathon.

Both the men's and women's team looked strong, if not fierce, in tonight's relay events.

Women's Relay

The women's team of Brittany Bowe, Sara Sayasane and Heather Richardson, led or clung to second place during much of the 12.5 laps on the Cali road course.

But in the final lap, Colombia's Liana Holguin shot to the lead. Holguin reached the final straightaway in first place and appeared to be headed for gold.

But then USA's Brittany Bowe, who won Thursday's 500 meters, cut to the outside and with a burst of speed caught the Colombian. At the line, both women hawked, but Bowe got there first.

It was the second win for the U.S. women's relay team, which won Monday's 3000-meter track relay.

Men's Relay

The men's race was also a nail-biter.

The U.S. team was made up of Joey Mantia, Michael Cheek and Josh Wood. As in the women's race, the U.S. team appeared determined to win. The three men skated at the front or near the front throughout the race.

On the last lap, Italy's Luca Saggiorato, one of the top skaters in the World Inline Cup, attacked and took a slim lead of several meters. As the tight-knit pack flew around the final turn, Saggiorato maintained his lead.

But then, Mantia switched into overdrive. With a bolt of speed, the 21-year-old from Olympia, WA, caught Saggiorato and finally, with an enormous hawk that spread his feet so far apart that his torso nearly scraped the ground, he grabbed the gold.

Juniors

In the junior men's division (under 18), the Italians proved themselves to be more than a match for Colombia and the USA.

The U.S. team, with strong pulls from Colin Thomas, led in the early goings. But after the halfway point, Italy narrowed the field with two hard attacks.

Colombia was the only team that was able to keep up. On the final lap, the Colombian skater took the lead and arrived at the final straightaway with a lead of several meters.

But the Italian, with a tremendous burst of speed, caught the Colombian at the line for the gold.

Colombia's only gold of the day came in the junior women's division, in which the U.S. team failed to qualify for the finals.

The Leaders

The men's gold gave Joey Mantia his sixth gold medal, far and away the most of any skater at the World Championships.

But Colombia continued to dominate the overall medal count, and with the championships ending tomorrow with the marathon, there is no chance for anyone to catch up.

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