HEERENVEEN, Netherlands, March 7 (Reuters) - Jordan Stolz seized control of the men's all-round competition at the Speed Skating World Championships on Saturday, while Ragne Wiklund and Miho Takagi set the early pace in the women's field as the battle for one of the sport's most prestigious titles gathered pace.
A day after Jenning de Boo and Femke Kok sent the iconic Thialf arena into raptures by sweeping the sprint crowns for the Netherlands, attention shifted to the all-round specialists.
The all-round
championship - a demanding sequence of 500 meters, 3,000m, 1,500m and 5,000m for women, and 500m, 5,000m, 1,500m and 10,000m for men - rewards a blend of explosive speed and deep endurance.
Stolz, the newly crowned Olympic 500m and 1,000m champion, quickly reset after sprint performances that had felt underwhelming by his own lofty standards.
Having taken silver behind rival De Boo - who is skipping the all-round event - the 21-year-old defending champion reasserted himself with a flawless 34.22 seconds in the 500m to take the early lead.
His return for the 5,000m delivered a truer measure of his stamina. Stolz posted six minutes 19.66 seconds - enough to preserve his overall lead even as world record holder and Olympic champion Sander Eitrem demolished the track record to take the distance.
In the women's competition, Japan's Takagi - the country's most decorated Winter Olympian with 10 medals - opened the final chapter of her illustrious career by winning the 500m in 37.75 seconds, setting the tone for a fitting farewell.
Wiklund, 25, then produced one of the day's standout performances, powering to three minutes 56.83 seconds in the 3,000m. The victory, following her fifth place in the 500m, pulled her level with the 31-year-old Takagi atop the overall standings.
The Dutch trio of Marijke Groenewoud, defending champion Joy Beune and Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong followed behind, with Italy's Olympic 3,000m and 5,000m champion Francesca Lollobrigida also in contention.
But the emotional heartbeat of the day belonged to Martina Sablikova. Skating in the final competition of her storied career, the five-times all-round world champion and three-times Olympic gold medallist was in tears before the start of the 3,000m.
Though the 38-year-old faded in the closing laps, she still completed a poignant lap of honour, earning a standing ovation from the Dutch crowd as fellow skaters embraced one of the sport's all-time greats.
The championships conclude on Sunday with the 1,500m for men and women, the women's 5,000m and the men's gruelling 10,000m - the ultimate test that will determine the all-round world champions.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
