Fourth race, fourth victory: The Dutch continue to divide the gold medals among themselves in the ice speed skating competitions of the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. After the victories of Carlijn Achtereekte (3000 m), Sven Kramer (5000 m) and Ireen Wüst (1500 m), top favourite Kjeld Nuis won the men’s 1500 m race on Tuesday.
In an excellent 1’44.01 minutes, the World Champion put his compatriot Patrick Roest (1’44.86) and Kim Min Seok (1’44.93), the host South Korea’s second medal, in the top four. After winning the bronze medal Kim went for a lap of honour. When he entered the podium in the Gangneung Oval, there was yet another loud cheer.
Thanks to Nuis, the Netherlands achieved another prestigious success: TeamNL now holds all Olympic titles for men. This had previously only been achieved by the USA, for which Eric Heiden won all races in 1980. At that time, however, there were no team decisions.
Four years ago in Sochi, only Zbigniew Brodka from Poland defeated the Oranje stars. Brodka finished twelfth on Tuesday (1:46.31).
On Wednesday, the athletes of the German Speed Skating Association (DESG) will once again take part in the competition, with Gabriele Hirschbichler, Judith Dannhauer and Michelle Uhrig, the last of whom is suffering from health problems, making her Olympic debut.