10,000 metres, Men

Three-time 5,000 m Olympic champion Sven Kramer was also considered to be one of the best 10,000 m riders, but he had not produced a good race in the event at the Olympics. After a failed race in 2006, a disqualification due to a bad lane change in 2010 and “poor” shape in 2014 (silver), he had his sights set on the PyeongChang 10,000 m. At the “general repetition”, the 2017 World Championships at the Olympic oval, he had done well, winning gold in 12:38.89, the second fastest mark ever and fastest at sea-level. The world record was not held by Kramer but, since 2015, by Ted-Jan Bloemen, who had bettered the world record in 2015 to 12:36.30. Defending champion, Jorrit Bergsma, had also qualified despite poor performances earlier in the season, and Korea was hoping that 2010 champion Lee Seung-Hun could regain the gold.

Lee was the first of the favorites to race. He produced a steady race and a new personal best of 12:55.54, but considering the track record, this was not considered sufficient for a medal. This was confirmed when Bergsma took the ice. Speeding up slowly throughout the race, he lowered the Olympic Record to 12:41.98, and into medal contention. Next up was Bloemen, who departed faster, and posted faster lap times than Bergsma for the first half of the race. He then retained his advantage in the final laps, even pushing out a small sprint towards the end, resulting in 12:39.77. That gave Kramer a tough time to beat, but he was never in contention, and he produced a sub-par race with 13:01.02. This left the gold to Bloemen, the first Canadian man to win a speed skating gold since Gaétan Boucher in 1984. His pairmate, Nicola Tumolero, surprisingly finished in third place, although his most notable performance until the Olympics had been winning the inaugural European 5,000 m title in a field without many top skaters. It made him the first Italian to medal in the sport since the Torino Olympics.