Sablikova claims women's 3,000m title at world single distances speed skating championships

SALT LAKE CITY - Martina Sablikova of Czech Republic beat Olympic champion Carlijn Achtereekte of the Netherlands to win the women's 3,000 meters race at the ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships on Thursday.

The 32-year-old star of the long distances clocked three minutes and 54.252 seconds for her sixth career 3,000m world title and her 16th overall at the World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships.

"I don't know the number of titles I won," said Sablikova. "It's always like the first time."

Achtereekte, the winner of the women's 3,000m at the PyeongChang Winter Games in 2018, settled for the second place with a time of 3:54.924 and the bronze medal went to Natalia Voronina of Russia in 3:55.540.

Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada emerged as the winner of the men's 5,000m after clocking 6:04.375, edging Sven Kramer of the Netherlands by 0.54 seconds. Bloemen's compatriot Graeme Fish joined him and Kramer on the podium with a time of 6:06.328.

Later on Thursday, the Netherlands dominated the team sprint events, grabbing both the women's and men's titles.

In the women's race, the Dutch team comprised of Femke Kok, Jutta Leerdam and Letitia de Jong clocked a winning time of 1:24.029 with Russia and Poland finishing second and third respectively. In the men's category, the Netherlands landed the gold medal at 1:18.187, 0.34 seconds ahead of China, while Norway took home the bronze in 1:19.545.