Davis tallies 1000m victory in Heerenveen

HEERENVEEN, Netherlands -- Shani Davis won his second individual race of the speed skating World Cup meet in Heerenveen on Sunday, adding a 1000m victory on a day overshadowed by news that triple Olympic gold medallist Marianne Timmer's season is over and that she will probably miss the Vancouver Games.

Davis added to his 1500 win on Friday and was also in the U.S. team that tied for first with the Netherlands in the men's pursuit.

Christine Nesbitt of Canada won the women's 1000m in 1 minute, 15.47 seconds, followed by Dutch skaters Annette Gerritsen and Natasja Bruintjes.

The day's racing came as news emerged that Timmer's plans for the months ahead had been dramatically changed by a broken heel suffered in a fall here Friday.

"This season is over," Timmer's coach Jac Orie told reporters at Thialf Stadium. "She's terribly upset."

Initial tests after Friday's fall in a 500m World Cup race had suggested Timmer only had a light rupture of a tendon in her left ankle and could be back on the ice in four weeks.

But Orie said an MRI Sunday morning showed breaks in Timmer's heel, which require 12 weeks to recover.

Asked if Timmer had a chance of defending her Olympic 1000m title at the Vancouver Olympics next February, Orie said: "It's not realistic. She can't put any weight on the foot for weeks."

Timmer, 35, is one of the brightest stars in the powerful Dutch speedskating team. She won her first Olympic 1000m title at the 1998 Nagano Games, where she also took gold in the 1500m and won the 1000m again eight years later in Turin.

Timmer told Dutch broadcaster NOS her first thought on hearing the result was the Olympics.

"That is the worst thing. The Games have been in my mind for years," she said.

Orie said Timmer was in great form before her crash as she geared up for Vancouver, which was to be her fourth and final Olympics.

"I don't want to make this more tragic than it already is, but she worked so hard this summer," he said. "She set aside everything and it resulted in very good performances so for her season to end so abruptly is terrible."

Orie said it is too early to assess whether the injury would end Timmer's career.

Davis extended his unbeaten run to four races in World Cup 1000m and 1500m events this season by posting a time of 1:08.48 in Sunday's 1000m. Simon Kuipers of the Netherlands was second in 1:09.06 and Mo Tae-bum of South Korea came third.

Nesbitt, the reigning world champion over 1,000 meters, made it two wins out of two World Cup races this season, following her victory last week in Berlin. She also was second in the 1500m on Saturday.

Orie kept the news of the seriousness of Timmer's injury from Gerritsen until after the 1000m race so as not to affect her concentration.

"It's a terrible disappointment," said Gerritsen, who is Timmer's training partner. "It's awful for her. She was skating well and she gets knocked out by something like this," she added.

Without Timmer, the Dutch women's pursuit team ended second behind Canada, which set a track record of 3:00.39. Russia was third.

In the men's pursuit, the Netherlands, without sick star Sven Kramer, tied for victory with the United States team of Davis, Chad Hedrick and Trevor Marsicano. Both teams finished the 3200m race in 3:43.94.

Italy was third in 3:45.62.