American Joey Mantia shattered the record for oldest man to win a non-distance World Cup speed skating race, taking the 1500m in Salt Lake City on Saturday.
Mantia, 35, prevailed in a personal best 1:41.15, just. 11 off Shani Davis’ American record.
He came up short of his goal of skating under 1:41.
“I felt a little weird this morning, a little nauseous, just maybe nerves got the best of me because I’ve really been focusing on this 15, especially this one at home,” he said. “I had my eyes on the world record (1:40.17). I could have attacked the second lap a little more aggressively, but without the help from the air pressure, I don’t think the world record was even possible today.”
Mantia, a three-time world champion in the mass start, became the oldest American to win a speed skating World Cup event, according to SpeedskatingStats.com. Derek Parra and K.C. Boutiette were part of a team pursuit victory in 2004, both at age 34.
Mantia added three years to the men’s age record for any nation in any non-distance event. Previously, South Korean Lee Kyou-Hyuk won a 500m in 2011 at age 32, according to Speedskatingstats.com.
It marked Mantia’s first World Cup win since November 2019, and his first win in a race other than the mass start since 2016.
In February, Mantia can become the oldest speed skater to win an Olympic medal outside of the distance races (3000m and up), according to Olympedia.org, And the first American man to win an Olympic speed skating medal since 2010.
NBCSN airs highlights of the Salt Lake City World Cup on Sunday at 10 p.m. ET.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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