Beijing, China

 #SpeedSkating #UpAgain

Nils van der Poel, Patrick Roest, Davide Ghiotto Speed Skating Beijing 2022 OWG©Getty Images 1369913959

Nils van der Poel (SWE) skates on the way to a new World Record time of 12:30.74 during the Men's 10000m at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.© Getty Images

Patrick Roest (NED) knew he had to do ‘something really special’, to beat Nils van der Poel (SWE) in the 10,000m on Friday. Hardly could the Dutchman have imagined how special Van der Poel’s race was going to be. After having won the 5000m by a small margin last Sunday, the Swedish long distance-machine shifted to another gear again and hammered out an incredible word record of 12 minutes and 30.74 seconds. Roest had to settle for silver trailing by 13.85 seconds, and Davide Ghiotto (ITA) took bronze at 15.24s.

Dutch disappointment
Finishing only 0.47 seconds adrift in the 5000m, Roest (NED) thought he had closed the early-season gap towards his Swedish nemesis, but he was proven wrong the hard way. After former world record holder Graeme Fish (CAN) had set a mark of 12:58.80s in the first of six pairs, Roest already skated in the second pair, being early in the draw due to his ninth place in the World Cup ranking.

The Dutch 5000m silver medalist started relatively slow, building his race upon low 31s and high 30s-laps in the first half. After the halfway mark, Roest increased his pace, adding seven the 29s-laps from the 6400m split and he finished in 12:44.59s. Although he considered it to be his best 10,000m performance this season, Roest knew his race had not been ‘really special’. "It wasn't my best day today”, he said.

Patrick Roest Speed Skating Beijing 2022 OWG©Getty Images 1369901627

Patrick Roest (NED) prepares to skate during the Men's 10000m at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.© Getty Images

Jorrit Bergsma (NED) failed to match Roest’s time, clocking 12:48.94s in the first pair after the ice cleaning break. The 2014 Champion and 2018 silver medalist ended up fourth in the final classification. “(It is) really disappointing”, he said. “I was hoping for a medal here and I just didn’t have it today. It’s a pity”.

More of a 10k Skater
Van der Poel (SWE) came up in the penultimate paring versus Ghiotto. He was more confident than he had been going into his 5000m race, where he had to chase Roest’s strong 6:09.31s. “I consider myself being a 10k Skater. I'd been practicing doing 30s laps a lot more than 29s laps,” he explained. The world Champion knew a world record was within reach, saying: “We wanted to have a good setup to be able to break the world record, but we didn't want to go Hail Mary too much. So we're going for 12:35. When you do that, you'll have an open up 35.0, and then you do 30.0s (laps), so it's really easy to calculate.”

Nils van der Poel Speed Skating Beijing 2022 OWG©Getty Images 1369920779

Nils van der Poel (SWE) skates on the way to a new World Record time of 12:30.74 during the Men's 10000m at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.© Getty Images

World Record
Being a little faster in his splits than Roest, Van der Poel (SWE) was right on his planned trajectory halfway through the race, and he slowly increased pace. “I felt with eight laps to go, I got the gold within control. Now I just need to not fuck it up, which I almost did with two-and-a-half laps to go. I put my right blade (wrong on the ice). I'd say stumbled a little bit. That happened but it was it was cool.” Heading into the final laps, Van der Poel gave it his all: “With four laps to go, it was okay. (I knew), I can also go for the world record now.” Throwing in his arms on the final straight Van der Poel crossed the line in 12 minutes and 30.74 seconds, 2.21s faster than the previous record he had set himself at last year’s World Single Distance Championships in Heerenveen (NED). With Van der Poel’s exceptional races, the 10,000m mark is the only world record in a classical distance skated on a lowland rink. All other world bests are skated at high altitude, where Skaters have the advantage of fewer air resistance.

Roest pays respect
Watching Van der Poel’s race, Roest (NED) pretty soon knew that the gold medal was not his for the day. "When I saw him starting to take those lap times to 29s, I knew he wouldn't give it away.” Although he did not think his own race had been the special one he had hoped for, Roest took his silver with pride.

Nils van der Poel, Patrick Roest, Davide Ghiotto Speed Skating Beijing 2022 OWG©Getty Images 1369917878

Gold medallist Nils van der Poel (SWE) (C), Silver medallist Patrick Roest (NED) (L) and Bronze medallist Davide Ghiotto (ITA) (R) celebrate during the Men's 10000m flower ceremony at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games  in Beijing, China.© Getty Images

"This was the best result possible. I have to be happy with (the) silver, as I really didn't have more in me (than this). And even if I’d skated a very special race, it would still not have been enough today. Nils van der Poel was just unbeatable and the better man today. The gap between gold and silver is extreme.” In fact, the margin of victory of 13.85s, was the largest since Johan Olav Koss (NOR) won by 18.70 seconds in 1994.

Italian pride
Well behind Van der Poel, Ghiotto (ITA) skated an incredible race himself. The 28-year-old long distance specialist broke his own Italian record by eight seconds to seize the bronze medal in 12:45.98s. "It's really crazy” he said. “It's a dream. The race was really good for me. I tried to skate 30.5s (lap times in seconds). The first part was very easy, but I know that in the last part for me it's very hard because the last five laps usually I go up in time. Every lap I saw Nils Van der Poel at the end of the corner, and for me that was very good. I thought, 'It's a very good race, it's a very good race'. I tried to stay in my time, and it's good.”

Davide Ghiotto Speed Skating Beijing 2022 OWG©AFP 1238372034

Davide Ghiotto (ITA) competes in the men's speed skating 10000m event during the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.© AFP

Like Van der Poel, Ghiotto likes the 10.000m better than the 5000m. He added: “A 10k is a very, very long race. I know the 5k is very hard, because you need to start very fast, and maybe in the 10k you can skate (a bit more) relaxed. You can stay at the same time every lap. For me and my technique, I prefer the 10k." Ghiotto followed the footsteps of compatriot Nicola Tumolero (ITA), who won bronze four years ago in PyeongChang 2018.

Bloemen settles for eighth
Defending Champion Ted-Jan Bloemen (CAN) had to skate straight after Van der Poel’s display of power and stamina, and he too quickly knew that it was not for him today. Bloemen ended up eighth in 13:01.39s. "Halfway through the race, I found out I just didn't have it in me today. It's a pity," he said, paying his respect to the new champion as well: “He skated amazing. It's bizarre if you take a look at the results and see how he finished way ahead of everyone else. He's a great sportsman and delivered it when it mattered most."

Ted Jan Bloemen Speed Skating Beijing 2022 OWG©Getty Images 1369915121

Ted-Jan Bloemen (CAN) skates during the Men's 10000m on day seven of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.© Getty Images