Van der Poel gives Sweden ice skating gold
BEIJING (AP) – Nils van der Poel has run a 20-something ultramarathon. He has parachuted hundreds of times. He has cycled from one end of Sweden to the other. He has served one year in the army and completed his training as a caretaker.
So when he needed a big kick in the last three laps of the 5,000-meter Olympic race, it really was no big deal.
Van der Poel gave Sweden its first Olympic medal since 1988, and made a fantastic comeback to win gold on Sunday at the Games in Beijing.
He was a big favorite when he entered the event as the reigning world champion, with an undefeated record in the distance events on the season’s world cup course.
Then he lived up to the hype – but not without a doubt.
“I was not so sure I would be the winner today,” van der Poel admitted. “Maybe expectations drop when you feel that the goal is slipping. But there is still struggle, and you have to fight your way through it. Its a challenge.”
The challenge fulfilled.
The 25-year-old put on the speed at the end of the race in 12 1/2 laps to overcome Patrick Roest from the Netherlands with an Olympic record of 6 minutes, 8.84 seconds.
Roest had skated about an hour earlier in the sixth of 10 pairs, and first hit the Olympic mark on 6.09.31.
Then he watched nervously in the gym when one couple after another failed to take down his time.
It looked as if van der Poel in the last group would also fall short, as he fell 2 seconds behind Roest’s pace with three laps left.
Then the Swede kicked in another gear.
He captivated the sparse audience by taking in Roest’s time for each step, his development was marked in real time on the scoreboard.
It turned out that van der Poel had just enough time to take the gold. His last lap was a stinging 28.97 – his second fastest in the strenuous race.
– A perfect race, said Sweden’s national team captain Joel Eriksson.
Van der Poel raised his arms when he saw “1” next to his name. Roest, who watched the race on a video screen, moaned and dropped his head in disbelief, his coach gathered to comfort him.
The bronze went to Hallgeir Engebraaten from Norway in 6: 09.88.
“The difficult thing about skating is the first 80% of the race. It’s about preparing for the last laps,” explained van der Poel. “When the last laps come, that’s when it (stinks) the most, but you also know it’s the last laps. You just go for it. You give everything. “
Van der Poel became the first Swedish skater to win a medal since Tomas Gustafson won a pair of golds in the 5,000 and 10,000 at the Calgary Games 34 years ago.
Since then, the Swedes had not finished higher than seventh in an Olympic race.
Roest knew it would be difficult to keep van der Poel away.
Still, it was a bitter pill to swallow when he saw a potential gold medal slip away.
“When you’re so close, it’s just painful,” Roest said. “Of course, it’s nice to have an Olympic silver. But when you are so close to gold, it is very difficult. ”
Van der Poel got a break in the draw and ended up in the last pair, where he knew what time he would need to win gold.
After skating much earlier, Roest felt helpless when he saw the Swede go faster and faster.
“You can do nothing about it anymore,” Roest said. “It’s not in your hands anymore. It’s painful.”
Sven Kramer’s endeavor for a fourth straight skating gold of 5,000 ended quickly.
The 35-year-old Dutchman skated in the first pair of the day and finished in 6: 17.04 – more than 7 seconds from his gold medal winning time at the Pyeongchang Games and good enough to only be ninth.
“I expected much better but I did not feel well today,” said Kramer. “I really went for it.”
Kramer was the first male skater to win the same competition at three Olympic Games in a row, but he is no longer the world’s dominant long-distance artist.
Kramer plans to retire after the Beijing Games, but he still has a couple of events left. He will also compete in the mass start and team persecution.
No matter what, Kramer is already confident of leaving the sport as the most decorated male skater in Olympic history, with nine medals in the last four games, including four golds.
“I’m not really thinking about it right now,” Kramer said. “I look forward to the team hunt and the mass start. Today was not good enough. “
Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran from the USA finished 16th (6: 21.80) and 17th (6: 25.97) respectively.
Lehman filled in for teammate Casey Dawson, who has been stuck in the US after testing positive for COVID-19 several weeks ago.
Dawson is still hoping to be ready in time to come to Beijing for next week’s team hunt.
Van der Poel looks forward to resuming the eclectic mix of physical challenges that will help him stay motivated on the skating oval.
“Whatever you may be inspired by, you have to find it,” he said. What do you have to bribe yourself with to train more than the others?
“If you can find the answer to that, maybe you can win the Olympics.”
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