Dutch Skaters Sweep the Podium

Olympic speed skating kicks off with the women’s 3,000 metre race on the Gangneung ring

By Julie Doyon
Photos: Schaats Foto's

The Netherlands dominated the Women’s 3,000 metre long-track event, taking gold, silver and bronze. Thanks to this Dutch trio, the Netherlands has taken the lead in the medal count.

A Dutch Podium

At the first event of her Olympic debut, Carlijn Achetreekte struck gold with a solid time of 3:59:21.

The first lady of speed skating, Ireen Wüst, who took the gold in Turin and Sotchi, finished in second, following close on the heels of her countrywoman Achtereekte. After having led in the first six laps of the race she lost her lead only during the final lap of the race logging a final time of 3:59:29.

Achtereekte and Wüst were the only skaters to log times under four minutes in this event. They were followed by their junior teammate Antoinette De Jong, who rounded out the trio with a time of 4:00:02.

Czech skater Martina Sablikova came in fourth, having previously won gold in this event in Vancouver and silver in Sotchi.

Claudia Pechstein, who set the Olympic record (3:57:70) in this event in Salt Lake City, came in 9th. The world record for this distance was set in 2006 by Canadian Cindy Klassen in Calgary, with a time of 3:53:34.

No medals for Canada

Unfortunately, the lucky inuksuk, constructed two years ago in Gangneung by skaters from both the men’s and women’s long-track teams, didn’t help the Canadians achieve the results they had hoped.

Mass-start star Ivanie Blondin, who took home gold in the 3,000 metre event in Erfurt - her first career gold in a traditional event - finished in 6th. Isabelle Weidemann finished in 7th. She is currently in 9th-place in the World Cup ranking in this event. Brianne Tutt came in 20th place.

Slow, resistant ice

No records were set on the sea-level Gangneung ring. The quality of the ice, however, appeared to be excellent.

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Full results - 3000 m W

Carlijn Achtereekte NED 1

Ireen Wüst NED 2

Antoinette De Jong NED 3

Martina Sablikova CZE 4

Miho Takagi JAP 5

Ivanie Blondin CAN 6

Isabelle Weidemann CAN 7

Ayana Sato JAP 8

Claudia Pechstein GER  9

Natalia Voronina RUS 10

Maryna Zuyeva BLR 11

Ida Njatun NOR 12

Francesca Lollobrigida ITA 13

Luiza Zlotkowska POL 14

Nikola Zdrahalova CZE 15

Karolina Bosiek POL 16

Katarzyna Bachleda-Curus POL 17

Bo-Reum Kim KOR 18

Ayaka Kikuchi JAP 19

Brianne Tutt CAN 20

Jiachen Hao CHN 21

Carlijn Schoutens USA 22

Roxanne Dufter GER 23
Jing Liu CHN 24