5,000 metres, Men

Since his Olympic title in Vancouver, Sven Kramer had skipped the 2011 season due to injury, but had won his 4th and 5th world title at this distance in 2012 and 2013. In the 2013-2014 season, Kramer had won all 5,000 m races he contested, including two World Cup races. Kramer’s biggest competitor seemed to be teammate Jorrit Bergsma, silver medalist at the 2013 World Championships and winner of the third 5,000 m World Cup race in the running season. The 2011 World Champion Bob de Jong had missed the Dutch team, but his “replacement” Jan Blokhuijsen had placed second in the most recent World Cup. Outside of the Dutch team, 2010 medallists Lee Seung-Hun and Ivan Skobrev were still highly considered, while the Belgian inline convert Bart Swings was considered to have a shot at a medal as well.

The first top favorite to hit the ice, Sven Kramer battered the leading time of Denis Yuskov. In a stable race, he beat his own track record and the Olympic Record by four seconds: 6:10.76. This time seemed unapproachable, but Bergsma made a brave attempt. Staying within reach of Kramer’s time until 3,800 m, he lost pace in the remaining laps, landing at 6:16.66. Blokhuijsen and Swings, in pair 12, started a little more carefully. At 3,400 m, Swings had to let Blokhuijsen go, who overtook Bergsma’s time at the bell. His 6:15.71 earned him a silver medal, while Swings ended just outside of the medals. The Dutch medal sweep was the first ever in the 5,000 m, and only the second in Olympic history for the Netherlands (the first was in the men’s 10,000 m in 1998).