Sweden’s Nils van der Poel set the world record in the men’s 10,000m to win the gold medal on Friday. He swept the long distance speed skating events at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games with the victory.
Van der Poel set the Olympic record in the 5000m race on Wednesday and somehow outdid himself. The Swedish skater entered Friday’s event with the world record in the 10,000m and topped his time with a 12:32.95 skate.
Each of his final five laps were better than the last as he flew to the finish. He did not skate a single 30-second lap in the closing 4400 meters of the race.
Van der Poel skated in the fifth of six pairs, and he bested the field by 13.85 seconds. He had the fastest pace after the first 800 meters and it continued to widen. The previous Olympic record was 12:39.77, so van der Poel nearly beat it by seven seconds.
Dutch skater Patrick Roest, who finished second in the men’s 5000m, put together a time of 12:44.59 for his second silver medal of the Winter Olympics.
Italy’s Davide Ghiotto came away with third place to earn his first Olympic medal. The 28-year-old competed at the same time is van der Poel, which may have helped push him. Ghiotto finished 12th in the same event at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Defending gold medalist Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada finished in eighth, while 2014 gold medalist Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands landed in fourth.
Van der Poel is the first Swedish skater to win the 10,000m at the Winter Olympics since Tomas Gustafson in 1988. Gustafson also swept the long distances that year. Six men’s 10,000m gold medalists have represented Sweden, which is the second-most from one country behind the Netherlands with seven.
Speed skating returns on Saturday with the women’s team pursuit and men’s 500m. The event will begin at 3 a.m. ET.
SEE MORE: Nils van der Poel edges Patrick Roest for 5000m gold medal
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