The world of speed skating is turning upside down.
Exactly 12 years after setting the previous world record in the 500 meter race, Femke Kok (25) broke the best mark in the World Cup race in Salt Lake City. The Dutch racer recorded a time of 36.09 seconds, 0.27 seconds faster than the previous record holder Lee Sang-hwa (South Korea/36.36).
Kok couldn’t believe his luck after that and said in disbelief: “I’ve watched Sang-Hwa Lee race hundreds of times and always asked myself: How can he be so fast? And now I’m even faster. My dream has come true.”
Impressive: This Dutch woman broke the longest-standing world record for Olympic speed skating distance.
SHE is the fastest woman on the ice.
Ice specialists have dominated this discipline for many years. Kok is a double world champion (2023, 2024, 2025) and European champion (2022, 2024) in the 500 meter race. He also twice became world team sprint champion (2020, 2022). In total, he collected 17 medals in the two tournaments (eight gold, eight silver, one bronze). In the 2020/21 season he also became the overall World Cup champion. He finished 6th at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
His first world record has now surpassed them all again. Even the day after the recording, Kok was stunned: “I woke up this morning and thought: Is this possible? It’s really strange.”
Femke Kok (25) has won the 500 meters world championship three times in a row
And: “To get close to the world record: That’s my dream. It’s incredible that I’m now the fastest in the world at this distance.”
He had shown his best performance on Saturday and broke his own Dutch record again. On Sunday she went head-to-head with reigning Olympic champion Erin Jackson (33). After finishing, Kok became emotional and shed tears.
