Belgian Bart Swings, silver medalist in the men’s mass start in speed skating four years ago, timed it right on Saturday and won the gold medal in Beijing.
South Korea’s Chung Jae-won won a sprint race of three skaters to take the silver medal. Teammate Lee Seung-hun, the Olympic title holder, took the bronze.
Joey Mantia, the 36-year-old American who was expected to compete for the gold medal, missed the bronze in a final, but then said a mistake by Lee cost him a shot on the podium.
“I don’t know how to feel,” said Mantia. “I hope they do something about that call eventually. I felt like I was cheated. Maybe I’m biased about it, but I felt like his hand was on my arm, pulling me back. From what I can see from the replay my foot was in front of him, and then his foot came in front of mine. How did it happen?” So if you take advantage of it?”
However, no judgment was passed, and Lee stepped up alongside Swings and Chung to claim his medal. Both were officially granted the same time.
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The gold medal was Belgium’s first at the Winter Games in 74 years.
Long track speed skating can be a little demure when it comes to Longer races. In those events, athletes walk around the ice rinks, arms resting behind their backs as they race against time only.
The mass start event, which debuted at the 2018 Olympics, refreshes things greatly. In the roughly four-mile race, 20 or more skaters are on the ice at the same time, drafting and fencing for position. stay on track? Not in the mass start.
so hard Speed skating enthusiasts She admits that the mass start is more exciting than traditional sports racing. “I’ve been doing a long run for about six years now, and I love the sport, but it’s hard to watch sometimes,” Mantia said in 2018.
Mantia, who is part of the US team chase team it Won the bronze medal On Tuesday, I started line skating, a sport in which nearly every race has a group start. He knew he would face a formidable opponent in the Swings, who had also had a long and impressive career in skating. But in a final photo, Mantilla, the faster runner of the two men, was expected to have the advantage.
Instead, Lee hit him with what appeared to be less than an inch.
Dutch Erin Schouten won the women’s race and took her third gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, chasing after Canadian Evanni Blondin in the final.
Scott shrieked as she crossed the line.
“With only 500m remaining, I thought this would slow down, I have to travel faster now,” Scotten said. “I did my best and thought, if they are faster, they are faster.
“When I came out of the last corner, I felt like I had more speed than Ivani. I just flew over that finish line.”
Her gold medal in the final speed skating competition was a perfect starting point: her 3000m victory came in the first speed skating event at the Olympics. She also won at a distance of 5000 metres.
