Ocala resident Joey Mantia is celebrating several record-breaking performances from this past weekend’s World Cup speed skating event.
On Saturday, Mantia won the 1500m race in Salt Lake City, becoming the oldest man to win a non-distance World Cup speed skating race.
The 35-year-old finished with a time of 1:41.15, which is nearly one-tenth of a second behind the American record currently held by Shani Davis.
Prior to Saturday’s result, the oldest man to win a non-distance speed skating race was South Korea’s Lee Kyou-Hyuk who won a 500m race in 2011 at the age of 32.
Mantia found more record-breaking success during the men’s team pursuit on Sunday. A new world record was established when Mantia and his teammates (Emery Lehman and Casey Dawson) finished the race with a time of 3:34.47.
During Sunday’s race, Mantia led all eight laps, and exhaustion took hold moments after the race ended.
Prior to Sunday’s race, the last U.S. men’s world record performance occurred in Salt Lake City on December 11, 2009 when American Shani Davis finished the 1500m race in 1:41.04.