U.S.'s Shani Davis grabs victory in 1,500-meter World Cup race

HEERENVEEN, Netherlands (AP) -- Shani Davis of the United States rallied in the last lap to win the a 1,500-meter World Cup race on Friday.

The world record-holder finished in 1 minute, 46.89 seconds to edge Dutchman Kjeld Nuis by just nine-hundredths of a second. Havard Bokko of Norway was third.

The win extended Davis' lead at the top of the World Cup standings.

Martina Sablikova maintained her season-long winning streak, claiming the 5,000 for her fifth victory in as many races.

The Czech long-distance specialist pushed during the final lap to finish in 6:52.50, just ahead of Stephanie Beckert, who skated a season-best 6:53.36 in the previous pairing.

Fellow German Claudia Pechstein was third, well back in 7:05.37.

Several top skaters are skipping the weekend World Cup to prepare for the single distance world championships in two weeks, also in Heerenveen.

Dmitry Lobkov of Russia won the men's 500, edging out Hein Otterspeer of the Netherlands and third-placed Keiichiro Nagashima of Japan.

World sprint champion Stefan Groothuis was fourth.

Sprinter Tucker Fredricks of the United States had the chance to extend his lead at the top of the standings in the 500, with second-ranked Mo Tae-bum skipping the event. But he finished 19th.

Yu Jing of China won the women's 500 in 38.03, well ahead of Margot Boer of the Netherlands, who finished in 38.30. American Heather Richardson was third.