HEERENVEEN, Netherlands (AP) – American Joey Cheek earned the biggest title of his career Sunday, winning the world sprint speedskating championship three weeks ahead of the Winter Olympics.

Svetlana Zhurova of Russia, a 34-year-old mother in the midst of a comeback, won the 500 meters and 1,000 to capture the women’s title. Defending champion Jennifer Rodriguez of the United States finished seventh in the 1,000.

Cheek pumped his fists with delight when he won the 500 in 35.09 seconds early Sunday. He beat Pekka Koskela of Finland by .15 seconds, and Yu Fengtong of China took third. Casey FitzRandolph of the United States finished fourth.

In the closing 1,000, a 10th-place finish was good enough to give Cheek the title after overtaking early leader Dmitry Dorofeyev. Cheek finished with 139.990 points and Dorofeyev had 140.365 in the overall standings. Jan Bos of the Netherlands finished third.

“It is a dream come true. I get to be in the same ranks as Eric Heiden,” Cheek said of the U.S. great who won four sprint titles in the 1970s.

Cheek won bronze at the Salt Lake City Games in the 1,000 and aims to improve upon that performance in Turin. The 26-year-old will compete in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 next month.

Jeremy Wotherspoon of Canada won the final 1,000 in 1:09.67. Yevgeny Lalenkov of Russia was second, followed by American Shani Davis, who finished eighth in the overall standings. Two months ago, Davis set a world record in the 1,000.

Dorofeyev, who finished fifth in the 500, was injured early in the season and has steadily climbed back into contention ahead of the Olympics. He won the last two World Cup 500s and two of the last three 1,000s.

Cheek arrived in the Netherlands on Thursday, but showed little effect from the trans-Atlantic time difference.

“I cannot complain about the jet lag,” he said.

Zhurova led after the opening two races on Saturday and capped a solid weekend with two distance victories to win the title with 153.625 points, ahead of Wang Manli of China and Chiara Simionato of Italy.

Zhurova beat Wang in two head-to-head races to make the difference. She won the 500 in 38.28, .09 seconds ahead of her opponent, while Sayuri Osuga of Japan took third.

In the 1,000, she won in 1:16.79, beating Wang by .53. Simionato finished in third.

Zhurova won the 500 at the 1996 world championship. After having a child in 2003, she returned to competitive speedskating.

Cheek indicated this may be his last Olympics. He plans to retire at the end of the season to study economics.