Global EditionASIA 中文双语Français
Sports
Home / Sports / News

Van der Poel wins men's 5,000m speed skating with Olympic record at Beijing 2022

Xinhua | Updated: 2022-02-06 20:37
Share
Share - WeChat
Gold medalist Nils Van Der Poel of Sweden, silver medalist Patrick Roest of the Netherlands and bronze medalist Hallgeir Engebraaten of Norway pose after the flower ceremony after Speed Skating Men's 5000m match at National Speed Skating Oval, Beijing, China, Feb 6, 2022. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

BEIJING - World record holder Nils van der Poel bagged his first Olympic gold medal in the men's 5,000m speed skating competition at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics here on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Swede, known for his stamina, stunned spectators on the final lap and clocked a winning time of six minutes and 08.84 seconds to lower the Olympic record of 6:09.76 set by Dutchman Sven Kramer at PyeongChang 2018.

"After halfway, I thought I've got to go now. So I was launching for it," he commented after the race.

Nils Van Der Poel of Sweden in action. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

Van der Poel, who only ranked 14th at PyeongChang 2018, thus becomes the first Swedish medalist in speed skating since the 1988 Games in Calgary.

"I am really happy with how it turned out. It was the Olympic race and that was all I wanted," he said.

Nils van der Poel of Sweden celebrates after winning a gold medal. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

Patrick Roest of the Netherlands, who had qualified first in the discipline at the Dutch trials, notched the silver medal in 6:09.31, with his new Olympic record set in an earlier run lasting only half an hour. 22-year-old Norwegian Hallgeir Engebraaten finished third in 6:09.88.

Kramer failed to add another medal to his tally of nine Olympic medals as the 35-year-old veteran skater concluded the 5,000m in the ninth place after winning the distance at a record three consecutive Olympic Games.

Sven Kramer of the Netherlands in speed-skating action. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

"When I went to the rink, I knew this was the last time I would skate the 5,000m. I tried everything but it wasn't enough. It's a pity," he said.

The women's 1,500m is scheduled on Monday.

Most Popular

Highlights

What's Hot
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US