Athletes from The Netherlands won both overall classification titles at the World Junior Speed Skating Championships ©Getty Images

The Netherlands were in ruthless form at the World Junior Speed Skating Championships in Innsbruck, winning a total of nine gold medals as well the overall classification titles for the men's and women's competitions.

Dutchwoman Jade Groenewoud won the women's overall classification with 167.360 points after she won gold in the women's 1,500 metres, 3,000m and team pursuit.

Groenewoud also won a bronze in the 1,000m, which was won by Yukino Yoshida of Japan, while Kazakhstan's Alina Dauranova claimed silver.

Evelien Vijn of The Netherlands was overall classification runner-up with 168.316 points while South Korea's Park Chae-won came third on 171.118 points.

Vijn joined compatriots Groenewoud and Chloé Hoogendoorn in the team pursuit victory, in 3min 7.29sec, and picked up silvers in the 1,500m, 3,000m and mass start which Hoogendoorn won.

The Netherlands' Pien Smit's 39.38 time in the 500m was enough to take gold.

Smit was also a part of the champion team sprint trio with Hoogendoorn and Jildou Hoekstra.


The medals were slightly more evenly spread in the men's events, with The Netherlands only winning three of a possible seven golds at an event open to athletes aged 21 and younger.

Dutchman Joep Wennemars did win the overall classification, however, on 149.302 points followed by countryman Tim Prins and Norway's Emil Pedersen Matre with 149.839 and 152.105 points, respectively.

Wennemars triumphed in the 500m and 10,00m while Prins was the 1,500m champion.

Sigurd Henriksen was victorious in the 5,000m to claim Norway's only gold medal of the Junior World Championships.

Japanese trio Kotaro Kasahara, Issei Matsumoto and Shomu Sasaki denied The Netherlands' in the team pursuit to triumph after 3:56.18.

Russia stood atop the podium in the team sprint after Sergei Bukuev, Nikita Proshin and Vsevolod Yatov crossed the line with a time of 1:25.49.