Sven Kramer
has set a new Olympic record as he led a Dutch sweep of the podium for the
men’s 5,000-meter speedskating race. In so doing, he also successfully defended
his title from the Vancouver Games.
Kramer
raced around the oval at Sochi with extremely consistent laps on Saturday, all
falling within a range of eight tenths of a second, to win the gold medal with
a time of 6 minutes, 10.76 seconds. This was almost four seconds faster than
the previous Olympic record, which the 27-year-old Kramer (pictured above
middle) had set on his way to winning gold at the Vancouver Winter Olympics
four years ago.
Kramer's
result was also nearly five seconds better than that of fellow countryman Jan
Blokhuijsen (above left), who took the silver medal. Jorrit Bergsma (right)
captured bronze to complete the Dutch sweep of the podium, with the country's
king, queen and prime minister among the spectators in the stadlum.
"What
can you say? We could never have hoped for such a great result," Dutch
King Willem-Alexander said afterwards. "That Sven was able to deliver
despite such pressure, it leaves me speechless. What can you say, such a great
Olympic record."
Past
disappointment
Kramer
travelled to Sochi determined to take the two longest men's speedskating events
after disappointments at past Olympics. In the 10,000 in Vancouver, he was
disqualified after switching into the wrong lane on the instructions of his
coach. Four years earlier in Turin, he clipped a lane marker in the team pursuit,
knocking out the heavily favored Dutch squad.
Earlier in
the day, the first medals were awarded, with US snowboarder Sage Kostemburg claiming gold in slopestyle snowboarding, and Norway's Marit Bjoergen taking
her country's first gold medal in the 15-kilometer cross-country skiathlon.
pfd/tj (Reuters, AP)
(NOS) |
Related Articles:
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Dutch speedskater Irene Wust wins the women’s 3,000 - disappointment for Pechstein
Irene Wust |
Dutch King
and Queen on their way to speedskating (NOS/ANP)
|
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