Dutchwomen’s speedskating dominance continues in 1,500, with U.S. shut out.
Dutch continue dominance with two more medals, keep Americans off podium again
GANGNEUNG, South Korea — The gun fired three times as American Heather Bergsma stood at the 1,500-meter start line, once for each of the three Dutchwomen in position for the podium as the final pairing of the race readied to go. One of those Dutch skaters had just bumped Bergsma’s teammate, Brittany Bowe, from position to win the U.S.’ first speedskating medal of these Olympics.
When the gun fired again, Bergsma rocketed to a goldmedal pace, one she maintained until the final lap and a half, during which she slid slowly into eighth. Such is the American experience in the early days of speedskating here.
Everything feels better than it did in Sochi, Russia, when tight suits and strange training decisions combined for a teamwide debacle. But nothing is quite good enough to beat the Dutch, who have won five of six women’s long-track medals so far.
Seems like Sochi
The Americans were stunned when they did not win a single long-track speedskating medal in Sochi. They are 0-for-2 here so far.
“It was hard to skate last (after the Dutch), but that’s the drill,” said Bergsma, who is married to Dutch men’s speedskater Jorrit Bergsma and lives in the Netherlands.
The Dutch have made cracking the podium feel as difficult as cracking a diamond.
Dutch legend Ireen Wust took the gold, which she said was a relief after she earned just a silver medal in the 3,000 meters two days ago. The gold medal, the fifth of her career and second at this distance, made her the winningest in a long lineage of Dutch speedskaters. She would not celebrate Monday night, she explained matter-of-factly. She has a medal to win in the 1,000 meters Wednesday.
If it weren’t for Japan’s Miho Takagi, who skated into the silver medal with a strong finish in that last pairing, the Dutch would have swept the podium for the second straight event. Marrit Leenstra took the bronze. Her teammate, Lotte Van Beek, was left shaking her head at her fourth-place finish, a relative disappointment.
It speaks to the width of the gap the Dutch have opened with the rest of the world that Bowe finished fifth with what she described as her best 1,500-meter skate in two years.
“I feel super proud about that performance,” said Bowe, whose finish Monday was her highest in an Olympic speedskating event. “I was able to fight all the way to the end and leave it all out on the ice.”
Pressure mounts
Bowe’s fifth-place finish might just provide a medal’s worth of morale. After missing nearly 18 months of preparation because of a concussion that left her uncertain about her skating future, after an interrupted Olympic cycle that left her rebuilding her fitness for much of the Olympic run-up, Bowe looked like the medal contender she was thought to be four years ago. She’ll race again in Wednesday’s 1,000-meter race and will do so with plenty of confidence — but with the lingering pressure of a medal drought.
“Every performance is going to speak for itself. I think I can speak for the entire U.S. team, especially the U.S. sprint team, in saying we have done everything we can do to prepare ourselves,” Bowe said. “I think it’s a good sign I’ve skated the best (1,500-meter race) I’ve skated in two years. I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of Team USA is going to do.”
Two medal-less races is hardly a trend, but after what happened four years ago and all the time, effort and sweat that went into making sure it wouldn’t happen again, a medal would lift a lot of pressure from American speedskating shoulders.
The trouble, of course, is that the Dutch don’t seem willing to give any away. Until Bergsma and Takagi skated in that last pair, the Dutch were in position for a second sweep of the 1,500 meters in as many Olympics — and the woman who won the gold in Sochi, Jorien ter Mors, didn’t even place high enough on her own team to race here.
“I think we’re really strong because we have a really good system in the Netherlands. And to be able to skate on the Olympics, we have a really hard qualification,” Wust said. “I think we have six people at each distance who could win a medal, but only three are allowed to race. How many medals will we win? A lot. … I think it will be like Sochi.”
The Americans, knocking on the door but so far still stymied, are hoping for the opposite.