The Japanese women and Norwegian men grab gold in team pursuit

It was bring your teammate to work day at the Gangneung oval as the skaters were battling in the team pursuit event.

By Carl Savard

Photos by Schaats Foto’s

Women’s event

From the get go, the Dutch team comprised of Lotte van Beek, Ireen Wüst and Antoinette de Jong opened the competition with a strong performance to qualify for the main final. They were skating against American skater's Heather Bergsma, Mia Manganello and Carlijn Schoutens who crossed the finish line almost seven seconds after the Dutch team. The other semi-final was showcasing team Canada represented by Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Keri Morrison and team Japan represented by Miho Takagi, Nana Takagi and Ayaka Kikuchi. The Japanese team, first in the ranking on the World cup circuit, crossed the finish line more than two seconds before the Canadians en route to the main final.

In the B final, Canada changed Keri Morrison for Josie Morrison hoping the fresher legs would help them win the bronze but it didn’t work. The Americans who started this final with a fast pace were able to hold on till the end and win the bronze while Canada finishes in fourth.

In the main final, the Japanese were fighting against the Netherlands for olympic glory and even though the race was pretty close for a good portion of it, no one was stopping Japan today. This gold medal for Miho Takagi is her third in Pyeongchang after winning silver on 1500m and bronze on 1000m.

China wins the C final by beating Germany while Poland wins the D final over Korea.

Men’s event

Pyeongchang was a first olympic experience for New-Zealand on team pursuit and today in the semi-final, they had to skate against the local team. Korean supporters were loud today at the Gangneung oval, hoping to see their beloved team get on the podium. New-Zealand represented by Shane Dobbin, Reyon Ray and Peter Michael (known as a powerhouse in inline speed skating) led the entire race until the last lap that saw Korea’s Lee Seung-hoon, Chung Jaewon and Kim Min-seok push harder and finish on top. In the other semi-final, team Norway comprised of Havard Bokko, Simen Sieler Nilsen and Sverre Lunde Pedersen surprised everyone with a strong win against Sven Kramer, Jan Blokhuijsen and Patrick Roest from the Netherlands. Netherlands ended up winning the Bronze in the B final against New-Zealand.

The main final was an exciting one as Norway was facing the Koreans. An action packed final, with a loud crowd reacting every time their favorite team was getting closer or passing in front of the Norwegians. In the end, Norway, led by Sverre Lunde Pedersen, won the gold with Korea getting silver.

In the C final, Italy won against Japan while Canada defeated the U.S.A. in the D final. For detailed results click Here

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