5,000 metres, Men

Looking at recent World Championships, it seemed certain that the title would go to a Dutchman. They had taken seven medals in the past three editions, including all titles. But world record holder, defending Olympic Champion and 1999 and 2000 World Champion Gianni Romme had been ill at the Dutch trials, and had not made the team. Reigning World Champion Bob de Jong did qualify, but performed very poorly in Salt Lake City, finishing 30th in a field of 32. This left Carl Verheijen, runner-up at the 2001 Worlds, and the relatively unknown Jochem Uytdehaage, who had captured the European Championships in January. Apart from the Dutch, most was expected from the Norwegians. Their team contained the only non-Dutchman to have medalled in a World Cup earlier that season: Eskil Ervik.

The Olympic Record from 1998 was first broken in pair five. Yet it wasn’t Nagano medalist Bart Veldkamp who did so, but his pairmate Jens Boden. The German was virtually unknown, and had never done any better than an 11th spot in a 5,000 m World Cup. His 6:21.73 in Salt Lake City turned out to be enough for a bronze medal, however. After this upset performance, Boden again settled into anonymity, never again approaching his Olympic medal achievement. The first man to beat Boden’s time was also unexpected. A convert from inline skating, Derek Parra had been a medal hope for the 1,500 m, but not in this event, having placed 15th at the most recent World Championships. But Parra’s race was excellent, skating with slightly increasing lap times the entire race to beat Romme’s world record. His 6:17.98 only lasted for a few pairs, however. Jochem Uytdehaage started out faster than the American, yet was able to keep the pace. In the end, he was more than 3 seconds ahead of the American, lowering the world record to 6:14.66.