Russia and Netherlands star on opening night in Heerenveen

Reigning Winter Olympic champion Ireen Wust opened up the night in perfect fashion for the hosts, edging out Russia's Evgeniia Lalenkova by 0.34s to take women's 1500m gold, with the latter's compatriot Yekaterina Shikhova claiming bronze, 0.43s behind.

And reigning world champion Thomas Krol made it two in the next event, besting Russian rival Denis Yuskov on home ice to claim the men's 1500m title.

The Dutchman came home in 1:43.67s, 1.13s ahead of Yuskov, with Krol's compatriot Patrick Roest completing the podium 1.15s back.

But in the team events, Russia got their revenge, claiming both women's and men's team sprint titles, with the Netherlands scooping silver in the former – Poland rounding off the podium – and Norway taking second in the men's, with Switzerland third.

Sportsbeat 2020