No stopping Sablikova

Heading to Astana the Czech skater had already ruled the roost in Harbin and Nagano, and she completed the hat-trick to open up her World Cup campaign in style.

Sablikova – a three-time Olympic champion – came home in 4:02.90 minutes for the win, 0.94 seconds ahead of Russian Anna Yurakova and 2.78 in front of third-placed Miho Takagi from Japan.

Sablikova sits top of the standings with a perfect score of 300, with Dutch skater Antoinette de Jong second on 190 after finishing fifth in Astana and Yurakova third with 185.

Dutchman Sven Kramer and Nao Kodaira of Japan were could also boast perfect records ahead of the Astana event, but with both skaters sitting out this round there were new faces atop the men's 5000m and women's 500m podiums respectively.

The women's event was won by Yu Jing in 37.85 seconds, with Chinese teammate Zhang Hong just 0.02 further back in second, while Lee Sang-Hwa was third in 37.95.

Despite not competing, Kodaira still leads the World Cup standings on 300 points, but Sang-Hwa is now just 25 further back in second, while Jing is third on 272.

And the men's 5000m was won by Australian Peter Michael in 6.21.58 minutes, 0.51 ahead of German Patrick Beckert with Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada third in 6:22.82.

Michael's victory sees him share top spot in the World Cup standings on 200 points with Kramer, while Jorrit Bergsma for the Netherlands is third on 160 despite also not making the trip to Astana.

© Sportsbeat 2016