Bonnie Blair, going head-to-head against Canada’s Susan Auch, won a 500-meter World Cup speedskating race Sunday in a world-record 38.69 seconds.
Blair smashed her old world mark of 38.99.
Auch also went under the previous record, clocking 38.94.
The head-to-head race was set up Saturday when Auch beat Blair by .3 seconds. That victory came only two weeks after Auch had beaten Blair, winner of five Olympic gold medals, in a World Cup race at Innsbruck, Austria-Blair’s first loss in the 500 in five World Cup races.
“Being paired with Susan was a big help for me,” said Blair, who also won her second 1,000-meter race of the weekend. “I knew the race was off to a good start. I knew I was close to Susan at the 100 (meters). That gave me somebody to chase.
“I don’t remember missing any strokes. I had good contact with the ice. The ice felt good and it seemed like it gave back to me as well.”
It was the first time two women had broken the 39-second barrier in the same race. Svetlana Zhurova of Russia was third in 39.66.
“It’s so hard when you want it so badly,” said Auch, a silver medalist at last year’s Winter Olympics in Norway. “You can see you’re catching the person you’re paired with. Overall it was the best race I ever had.”
Blair also won the 1,000 meters in 1:18.39.
