Sven Kramer makes history by setting a new Olympic record and becoming the first man to win three consecutive gold medals in the 5000m.
By Maria Dalton
Photo by Schaats Foto's
On a night that saw both a false start and a photo finish, both relatively uncommon in long distance races, it was Sven Kramer that stole the show with his record setting performance.
Three in a row for Sven Kramer
Kramer started off on pace with the Ted-Jan Bloeman’s time but pulled away and continued to build momentum over the course of the race. He broke his previous Olympic record of 6:10.76 (set in Sochi in 2014) with his gold medal winning time of 6:09.76. With this gold medal he becomes the first man to ever win three consecutive gold medals in the 5000m, further solidifying his place as one the greatest skaters of all time. Sven Kramer’s race today in the 5,000m gives us a good idea of the type of racing we can expect to see from him in the 10,000m later this week.
The pair of Ted-Jan Bloeman and Sverre Lunde Pedersen rounded out the podium. Both skaters started strong, with Bloeman getting off to a quick start and Pedersen trailing. Pedersen overtook Bloeman during the middle portion of the race when the Canadian seemed to get a bit tense and lose some momentum. However, the last two laps saw Bloeman push back and overtake Pedersen, and in a photo finish not commonly seen in distance races, it was Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloeman who came out on top to capture the silver medal, with the Norwegian settling for bronze.
Lee Seung-Hoon had the crowd behind him as the lone Korean skater in the men’s 5000m where he fought through the second half of the race to post a time of 6:14.15 – enough for a fifth place finish.
Canada’s first speed skating medal
Canada’s first speed skating medal came courtesy of Ted-Jan Bloeman. His time of 6:11.616 was enough to beat out Sverre Lunde Pedersen of Norway for the silver medal. Competing in his first Olympic games, Ted-Jan Bloeman who was born in the Netherlands, has started off with a bang and given us a taste for what’s to come later in the week with the 10,000m. Ted moved to Canada in 2014 and has been solid in the lead up to the 2018 Olympic games. This past December, Bloeman broke Sven Kramer’s 5000m world record in Salt Lake City, a record that had stood for 10 years. Bloeman’s silver medal is the first medal in the 5000m for a Canadian man since Willy Logan won bronze at the 1932 games in Lake Placid. Ted-Jan Bloeman’s performance today marks an important milestone in the history of the Canadian program.
If the results today are any indication of what’s to come later in the week, we are certain that as the competition rolls on we will continue to see more great skating from the Gangneung Oval.
Visit our special coverage page to find all our articles related to Pyeongchang 2018 by clicking HERE.
Results - M5000m
1-Sven Kramer (NED) – 6:09.76
2-Ted-Jan Bloeman (CAN) – 6:11.61
3-Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR) – 6:11.61
4-Peter Michael (NZL) – 6:14.07
5-Lee Seung-Hoon (KOR) – 6:14.15
6-Bart Swings (BEL) – 6:14.57
7-Jan Blokhuijsen (NED) – 6:14.75
8-Nicola Tumolero (ITA) – 6:15.48
9-Seitaro Ichinohe (JPN) – 6:16.55
10-Patrick Beckert (GER) – 6:17.91
11-Alexis Contin (FRA) – 6:18.13
12-Moritz Geisreiter (GER) – 6:18.34
13-Simen Spieler Neilsen (NOR) – 6:18.39
14-Nils Van Der Poel (SWE) – 6:19.06
15-Bob De Vries (NED) – 6:22.26
16-Ryosuke Tsuchiya (JPN) – 6:22.45
17-Livio Wenger (SUI) – 6:24.16
18-Havard Bokko (NOR) – 6:24.51
19-David Ghiotto (ITA) – 6:29.25
20-Andrea Giovannini (ITA) – 6:30.71
21-Emery Lehman (USA) – 6:31.17
22-Adrien Wielgat (POL) – 6:31.71
