Lorentzen takes gold - Surprise finishes by the Chinese and Koreans

Havard Lorentzen of Norway claimed the gold medal and set a new Olympic record, while Min-kyu Cha of Korea thrilled fans to capture the silver medal. Twenty-year old Tingyu Gao of China rounded out the podium to cap off an exciting night of skating at the Gangneung Oval.

By Maria Dalton

Photos by Schaats Foto's

Havard Lorentzen strikes gold

Havard Lorentzen captured the gold medal in thrilling fashion with his olympic record time of 34.41. His time today lowers the previous mark set by Casey Fitzrandaolph (USA) in Salt Lake City in 2002. The last Norwegian to win a gold medal in the 500m was Finn Helgesen, who won gold in St. Moritz 70 years ago. Coming into the Olympic games, Lorentzen had won three gold medals in the 500m on the 2017/2018 World Cup circuit. Under the guidance of Jeremy Wotherspoon the Norwegians have become a force to be reckoned with in the sprint distances and have had massive successes in recent seasons.

Min-kyu Cha of Korea finished in second, a mere 0.01 seconds behind Lorentzen. The crowd favourite Korean thrilled fans with his blazing time of 34.42, which momentarily stood as the Olympic Record until it was broken two pairs later.  The 24 year old’s best finish this season was a 2nd  place in the 500m at the Calgary World Cup. He competed in the World Single Distance Championships last year at the Gangneung Oval where he finished in 12th, and his time today vastly improved upon his time of 35.01 from the last year.

Rounding off the podium was Tingyu Gao of China, who raced to a bronze medal with a time of 34.65. At only 20 years of age, Tingyu Gao becomes the first Chinese man to win an Olympic medal in speed skating. The Chinese skater wasn’t considered by many to be a medal contender, as he has yet to win one in a World Cup event. With his performance today, this young skater has put the world on notice and will surely continue to excel in the distance as his career progresses.

Numerous skaters had issues with their blades picking the ice at the start line and unfortunately Artur Nogal of Poland suffered a fall straight off the line. This is very disappointing for the Polish skater who was looking to improve on his finish from four years ago in Sochi.

Disappointment for the Canadians

Alex Boisvert-Lacroix of Sherbrooke, QC was the highest Canadian finisher. He skated in the last pair but came up short with a time of 34.934 for an 11th place finish. This is a disappointing finish for the Canadian who has had a very strong season, having won gold medals in the 500m at the fall World Cups in Calgary and Salt Lake City. The other two Canadians in the mix today were Gilmore Junio from Calgary, AB and Laurent Dubreuil from Levis, QC. Junio, who is competing in his second Olympic games, finished in 17th place with a time of 35.158. Dubreuil, who was considered by many to be a medal threat in the 500m, finished a disappointing 18th with a time of 35.16.

Women’s Team Pursuit Qualification

The Dutch continued their strong performance at these Olympic games and qualified first with an Olympic Record time of 2:55.61. This time eclipsed their previous mark set four years ago in Sochi. Leenstra and De Jong will be on the hunt for their second medal of the games, while Ireen Wust will be looking to add a third medal to her haul.  The Japanese have been virtually untouchable this World cup season in the team pursuit and qualified second with a time of 2:56.08.

The Canadian trio of Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Josie Morrison qualified for Wednesday’s semi-finals with a time of 2:59.03. Going into the Olympics, the Canadians were ranked third in the World cup rankings. The United States rounded out the quartet of teams advancing to the semi-finals, having qualified with a time of 2:59.75.

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RESULTS – Men 500m

Havard Lorentzen (NOR) – 34.41 (OR)

Min Kyu Cha (KOR) – 34.42

Tingyu Gao (CHN) – 34.65

Mika Poutala (FIN) – 34.68

Daichi Yamanaka (JPN) – 34.78

Joji Kato (JPN) – 34.831

Ronald Mulder (NED) – 34.839

Nico Ihle (GER) – 34.89

Kai Verbij (NED) – 34.90

Jan Smeekens (NED) – 34.930

Alex Boisevert-Lacroix (CAN) – 34.934

Kim Jun-Ho (KOR) – 35.01

Arthur Was (POL) – 35.02

Tsubana Hasegawa (JPN) – 35.08

Mitchell Whitmore (USA) – 35.13

Tea-Bum Mo (KOR) – 35.154

Gilmore Junio (CAN) – 35.158

Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) – 35.16

Pekka Koskela (FIN) – 35.19

Pedro Causil (COL) – 35.19

Daniel Greig (AUS) – 35.22

Ignat Golovatsiuk (BLR) – 35.23

Johnathan Garcia (USA) – 35.31

Stanislav Palkin (KAZ) – 35.33

Artyom Krikunov (KAZ) – 35.34

KImani Griffin (USA) – 35.38

Tao Yang (CHN) – 35.42

Henrik Fagerli Rukke (NOR) – 35.500

Joel Dufter (GER) – 35.506

Mirko Giacomo Nenzi (ITA)  - 35.51

Jiaxuan Xie (CHN) – 35.545

Mathias Voste (BEL) – 35.546

Piotr Michalski (POL) – 35.64

Ching-yang Sun (TPE) – 35.86

Roman Krech (KAZ) – 35.92

Artur Nogal (POL) – 58.75

RESULTS - W Team Pursuit

Netherlands – 2:55.61 (OR)

Japan – 2:56.08

Canada – 2:59.03

United States – 2:59.75

China – 3:00.01

Germany – 3:02.65

South Korea – 3:03.76

Poland – 3:04.80