Ning Zhongyan of China competes in the men's 1,500 meter event on Day 2 of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating at Utah Olympic Oval on December 04, 2021 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Photo: VCG

Ning Zhongyan of China continued to show good form in the 2021-22 season ­International Skating Union (ISU) speed skating World Cup series, winning a silver with a national record time of one minute and 41.38 seconds in the men's 1,500 meters in Salt Lake City, the US on Saturday.

This is the third medal at as many World Cups for the 22-year-old after his two victories over the distance in the previous stops. The World Cup leader was 0.23 seconds behind his pair and eventual winner Joey Mantia of the US, and slicing nearly a second off his own record made him excited.

"I'm really happy with my time," Ning told the ISU official website. 

"To skate a personal best, and also to break the Chinese record again."

Skating on home ice, Mantia crossed the line with a personal best time of 1:41.15 for the gold, only 0.98 seconds short of the world record. World champion Thomas Krol of the Netherland came third in 1:41.892.

"[I was] hoping to get under the 1.41 mark and to be in the 1.40, but I'm very happy with it. It's consistent," Mantia said.

In the women's middle-­distance race, Olympic bronze medalist Miho Takagi of Japan triumphed in the 1,000-meter competition in 1:11.83, only 0.22 seconds short of Brittany Bowe's world record. Dutch Jutta Leerdam took the silver 0.42 seconds behind. The American world record holder Bowe had to settle for a third place finish in 1:12.608 after two wins this season and continued to lead the World Cup standings.

Tagaki was close to another gold in team pursuit, but her sister Nana fell in the final lap and Canada took gold in 2:52.390, followed by the ­Netherlands (2:52.692) and Russia (2:56.220).

Also on Saturday, Andzelika Wojcik claimed gold in a Polish national record time of 36.775 seconds, edging Russian world champion Angelina Golikova by 0.01 second for her maiden World Cup victory in women's 500 meters.