5,000 metres, Men

Due to the reduction in overall speed skating athlete quota, the number of skaters in the 5,000 m had been reduced from 22 to 20. The overwhelming favorite for the event was Sweden’s Nils van der Poel. A modest performer until 2018, he had taken a break from sports to fulfill his military obligations. Using unorthodox training methods, such as ultrarunning, he made a comeback in the 2020/21 season, and with a huge impact. At the 2021 World Single Distance Championships held in the Heerenveen COVID-19 “bubble”, he won both 5,000 and 10,000 m, the latter in world record time. He continued in that vein in the Olympic season, winning all long distances and bettering the 5,000 m world record.

Competition started with three-time champion Sven Kramer in his fifth Olympic 5,000 m. Plagued by back injuries, he had been happy to qualify for the Dutch Olympic team and with 6:17.04 he would end up in ninth place. In the third pair, Kramer’s Olympic Record was challenged by both Sergey Trofimov and Hallgeir Engebråten, who kept in close contest the entire 12.5 laps. The Norwegian, third at the 2022 Europeans, finished in 6:09.88, just ahead of Trofimov. The last race before the ice preparation break saw one of van der Poel’s toughest opponents, Patrick Roest. The three-time world all-around champion, who was chasing his first international single distance title, produced a good race, although his pace slightly fell back in the final 800 m.

After disappointing showings of former medalists Jorrit Bergsma (6:13.18) and Ted-Jan Bloemen (6:19.11), the final pair featured van der Poel. The Swede produced a very evenly paced race, racing all his laps between 28.97 and 29.33 seconds, but up until the bell, he was trailing Roest’s times. Going into the last lap he was back 0.99 seconds, but made up 1.46 in the last 400 m to earn the first Swedish gold in the sport since Tomas Gustafson in 1988.