THE CANADIAN PRESS
HAMAR, Norway — Ottawa’s Kristina Groves captured the silver medal at the world allround speedskating championships after winning one race and finishing fourth in another Sunday.
Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic earned the overall crown with 161.616 points, anchored by her victory in the 5,000-metre race. After winning the 1,500-metre race, Groves finished fourth in the 5,000-metre event to take second overall with 162.264 points. Ireen Wust of the Netherlands took the bronze medal with 163.639 points.
"The 1,500 actually took quite a bit out of me and I think I was just a little bit cooked by the end," Groves said during a conference call. "It was funny because I could hear the announcer when I was racing (the 5,000) because I knew I had to be less than six seconds behind Sablikova and every lap the margin was getting a little bigger and bigger.
"With a couple to go I knew it was maybe out of my reach but I still did my best and did everything I could till the end."
Overall, Groves said she was pleased with her performance in the allround championship.
"I was happy with the end result," she said. "It’s a little bit bitter-sweet because I knew it was in my grasp and just didn’t quite have enough in the 5,000 and to feel that slip away was a little hard.
"But I was pretty satisfied overall with my races. For sure, the 1,500 was my best race and I’m really happy with that one. I think the others were solid, not my very best but enough to make it into second."
Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., was second in the 1,500-metre event. Groves won the race in one minute 56.17 seconds to edge Nesbitt, who was second in 1:56.49.
Wust was third in 1:56.78.
The podium finish was the second in as many days for Nesbitt, who won the 500-metre race Saturday. Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., won the men’s 500 on Saturday.
Groves’ silver medal-winning performance comes a year out from the 2010 Winter Games, which will be held in Vancouver. While Groves says she’s excited by the prospect of competing in Canada, the 2010 Games are hardly on her radar screen right now.
"Obviously, the Olympics are going to be incredible in Canada and it’s a great opportunity," she said. "But for me I have to focus on my training and my racing.
"The second I start thinking about results I have the worst races imaginable so I have to take my mind off of that and focus on the process."
Winnipeg’s Brittany Schussler was ninth in both the 1,500-metre and 5,000-metre races to end up ninth overall with 165.196 points.
.Competitors were awarded points based upon their finishes in the respective races. The only medals given out were for those registering top-three finishes in the overall standings.
Groves said finishing second in the allround is quite an accomplishment for a skater.
"It’s a gruelling competition," she said. "We skate four races in two days and it really does show you sort of the best of the all-around skaters.
"It goes from the 500 right up to the 5,000 and 10,000 for the guys. It’s special in that there’s a lot of history in the competition but also just because you have to be good in every single distance. This is a unique competition in that you really do have to be on your game for every single race."