ISU Speed Skating World Cup underway in Beijing, China's Ning takes men's 1,500m silver

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Speed Skating World Cup series. The Beijing stadium nicknamed the "Ice Ribbon" hosts the second of this season's six events, as more than 260 top athletes, from 24 nations and regions, made their way to the Chinese capital. 

The National Speed Skating Oval, a landmark venue built for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, is once again a showcase venue. With speed skating top athletes returning to the site for this weekend's ISU World Cup, there is much anticipation for the races on a surface hailed as "the fastest in the world." 

"Since the Beijing Winter Olympics, speed skating has gained more attention, and this atmosphere has surpassed even last year's event in Beijing, with the stands nearly filled to capacity, and I'm truly delighted to see the fans cheering for athletes from all over the world," said Han Mei, who placed sixth in the women's 1,500m event. 

On the highly anticipated first day of action, the Chinese national team's leading lights, including Ning Zhongyan, Gao Tingyu, and Han all made appearances. Ning finished second in Group A of the men's 1500 meters, in 1 minute, 44.26 seconds, to pick up his second medal in this season's World Cup series.

"This time, my performance was even faster than last week in Nagano, and actually, I thought my result from the last event was already quite good, but this outcome completely exceeded my expectations. The surface at the Ice Ribbon is excellent, and the cheers from the audience as I stepped onto the ice motivated me, so everything was just perfect," said Ning. 

Although Japanese speed skaters stood out in the women's 500 and 1500 meters, it was the USA's Jordan Stolz who undeniably stole the spotlight on opening day. The 20-year-old first broke Gao's stadium record by crossing the line at the front of the pack, in 34.27 seconds to win the men's 500 meters, and then edged Ning by 32-hundreths of a second, to top the podium in the 1500m.

The successful hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics laid a solid foundation for the continuing development of cold weather sports in China, and this year's ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Beijing further helped convey the country's ongoing passion and dreams for snow and ice based competition to the world, while also foreshadowing strong expectations for the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games.