|
| Event type

3,000 metres, Women

Date10 February 2018 — 20:00
StatusOlympic
LocationGangneung Oval, Gangneung Olympic Park, Coastal Cluster, Gangneung
Participants24 from 13 countries
Olympic Record 3:57.70 WR / Claudia Pechstein GER / 10 February 2002
RefereeBert TimmermanNED
StarterStefan HerrmannGER

For years, the 3,000 m had been a battleground between two skaters: Ireen Wüst and Martina Sáblíková. The Dutchwoman had won Olympic gold in the event in 2006 and 2014, while winning world titles in 2011, 2013 and 2017. Czech Republic’s Sáblíková had won the 2010 Olympic title and was World Champion in 2007, 2012 and 2015-16. In addition, Sáblíková had won the combined 3,000 m/5,000 m World Cup 11 seasons in a row, since 2006/2007. Despite these impressive records, neither woman was in great shape in the run-up to the Olympics. Both had suffered from injuries early in the skating season, and neither had recorded a win in the World Cup circuit. Others were eager to step in the void left by these dominant skaters, with World Cup wins recorded by Antoinette de Jong, Miho Takagi, Nataliya Voronina and Ivanie Blondin.

None of these would claim the gold, however, as it was quite unexpectedly won by Carlijn Achtereekte. She had surprisingly secured a spot in one of the major commercial teams, and had earned the third Olympic spot at the Dutch trials, behind De Jong and Wüst. In Pyeongchang, she skated early in the field, recording 3:59.21, a fraction slower than the track record that had been set by Wüst at the 2017 World Championships. Wüst was the first of the favorites to race, and she seemed to comfortably go below Achtereekte’s mark, having a 1.5 second lead with just 2 laps to go. But Wüst’s pace slowed in the final 400 m, and she crossed the line a fraction slower: 3:59.28. The 11th pair saw Takagi and De Jong competing, but neither seriously approached Achtereekte’s splits. De Jong came closest with 4:00.02, leaving three Dutch women in medal positions with one pair left. In that final pair, Sáblíková recorded consistent lap times, but without her usual speed. A good final lap did bring her close to the podium, but she couldn’t do better than 4:00.54. The Dutch sweep of the medals was the third time a single country won all medals in the 3,000 m. This had happened before in 1984 (East Germany) and 1998 (Germany).

PosPairCompetitorNOCTime
15ICarlijn AchtereekteNED3:59.21Gold
29IIreen WüstNED3:59.29Silver
311OAntoinette de JongNED4:00.02Bronze
412OMartina SáblíkováCZE4:00.54
511IMiho TakagiJPN4:01.35
610IIvanie BlondinCAN4:04.14
79OIsabelle WeidemannCAN4:04.26
83OAyano SatoJPN4:04.35
910OClaudia PechsteinGER4:04.49
1012INataliya VoroninaROC4:05.85
118OMaryna ZuyevaBLR4:05.96
121IIda NjåtunNOR4:06.67
136IFrancesca LollobrigidaITA4:08.58
143ILuiza ZłotkowskaPOL4:09.69
152ONikola ZdráhalováCZE4:11.36
165OKarolina BosiekPOL4:12.44
174OKatarzyna Bachleda-CuruśPOL4:12.57
181OKim Bo-ReumKOR4:12.79
198IAyaka KikuchiJPN4:13.25
207OBrianne TuttCAN4:13.70
216OHao JiachenCHN4:15.56
227ICarlijn SchoutensUSA4:15.60
234IRoxanne DufterGER4:16.87
242ILiu JingCHN4:20.95