10,000 metres, Men

As in the other allround distances, the 10,000 m was set to be a Dutch-Norwegian affair. Norwegians Johann Olav Koss and Geir Karlstad had both already won Olympic gold in Albertville, and were looking for more. Of the Dutch skaters, only Bart Veldkamp had raced at other distances, placing fifth in the 5,000 m. Also competing for a medal was his team mate Robert Vunderink, a marathon skater, he did not regularly compete with long track skaters. Having set his sights on the Olympic 10,000 m, Vunderink had surprisingly beaten all aforementioned favorites in a December World Cup at Heerenveen.

Vunderink was the first of these four to ride. A slow starter, he eventually finished in 14:22.92. That assignment proved easy for Karlstad in the next pair, who did open a bit too fast, costing him in the latter part of the race. His time was 14:18.13. Koss, skating one pair later, trailed slightly behind Karlstad’s splits for most of his race. But he took advantage of his team mate’s slower final laps, and finished almost four seconds faster: 14:14.58. With the lap times of his opponents known, this gave Veldkamp the blue print for his own race. Leading the Norwegian by five seconds with seven laps to go, Veldkamp felt he had the gold in his hands, and slowed down slightly to win in 14:12.12. As in Karlstad’s win in the 5,000 m, Veldkamp’s gold medal was the first for the Netherlands since the 1976 Olympics.

After his gold medal, Bart Veldkamp set his sights on competing in the 1992 Summer Olympics. He hoped to become part of the Dutch team pursuit squad in track cycling, but was eventually not selected for the Games. After competing in the 1994 Olympics, Veldkamp traded his Dutch passport for a Belgian one to avoid the tough Dutch selection process. Competing for his new nation, he won a bronze medal at the 1998 Games.