| Draw European Championships |
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| Friday, 11 January 2008 | |
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An odd number of participants both in the men's and ladies' program, alas. 25 ladies and 33 men with Marita Johansson for Sweden and Roger Schneider representing Switzerland to open the ball. Marita will skate alone again in the 3000 (it should be forbidden for someone to skate alone twice in one weekend), and Yevgenij Lalenkov will start alone in the 5000m.
The three main favourites for the men's podium will skate in the outer lane of the final three pairs of the day, with Håvard Bøkko in pair 15 (against Ivan Skobrev), Enrico Fabris in pair 16 (against Tobias Schneider) and in the final pair the Dutch friends Sven Kramer and Wouter Olde Heuvel. The defending champion is confident, Enrico Fabris knows he was close and had a nice battle last year, and is confident that he has another chance in Kolomna. Håvard Bøkko demonstrated what he can do better than any other skater: a salto backwards, from standing position. In the ladies' field, defending champion Martina Sábliková is recovering from an arm injury. She says she doesn't believe she will win the title once again. The main favourite, of course, is Ireen Wüst, the reigning world champion, who was second last year in both the European Championships and the World Sprints. With her strong short distances, her Olympic quality 3000m and her will power in the 5000m, every eye will be on her. She will skate the 3000 in the pre-last pair, inner lane, Sablikova a pair earlier, Wojcicka and Groenewold are in the final 13th pair. The German ladies Daniela Anschütz-Thoms and Claudia Pechstein skate in pair 10, both capable of making the podium, like Groenewold. |