World Games – Bart Swings offers a first medal to Belgium
(Belga) Bart Swings offered a first medal to Belgium during the 10,000m points on track in skating of the World Games on Friday in Birmingham, Alabama, in the United States.
Swings finished in 1st place with 18 points ahead of Frenchman Martin Ferrie and German Nils Bühnemann. The Louvanist thus won his 8th medal at the World Games, the 5th in gold. He had already participated in the World Games in Cali and Wroclaw. Already in the first laps, Bart René Swings, as he is listed on the entry list, set a high pace. He then slowed down after scoring nine points, well ahead of his main opponent, the Italian Giuseppe Bramante, and his four points. After a few laps, the Louvanist resumed the attack to finish well ahead of his opponents, with 18 points, against 11 for Ferrie and Bühnemann. The races are held on a 200 meter flat track in a former industrial district, Powell Steam Plant, once the center of the city’s energy supply. The afternoon finals were postponed twice due to heavy rain. Classes finally started more than an hour late. Earlier in the day, the first gold medals in speed skating went to Italian Duccio Marsili and Colombian Geiny Pajaro, who won the 200 meters on track. Olympic champion in speed skating last February in Beijing, Swings will still participate in the elimination race on track and on the road, the points race on the road and the 1,000m on the track. The marathon event, his great specialty, is not on the program of the World Games. (Belgian)