5,000 metres, Women

Based on her performance in the 3,000 m earlier at the Olympic Games, the gold medal in the 5,000 m was Irene Schouten’s to lose. This did not come as a surprise – as the reigning World Champion, she had also won the season’s only 5,000 m World Cup race. Back in November 2021, in Stavanger (NOR), she had held off Isabelle Weidemann and Ragne Wiklund, two medal contenders. Also considered were world record holder Nataliya Voronina and 10-time world champion, and two-time Olympic champion, Martina Sáblíková.

Voronina was the first to beat seven minutes in the race, but her time of 6:56.99 didn’t show any echoes of her marvelous world record and world title race in 2020 – it would eventually land her in seventh place. Sáblíková, the great Czech champion, had been less successful in recent years, having been plagued by recurring back injuries. In January 2022, she had a serious fall while training in Collalbo (ITA), requiring stitches in her thigh and missing the European Championships. Having just missed out on a medal in the 3,000 m, she delivered a very steady race now, delivering all 32-second (or faster) laps, leading to a 6:50.09 final time.

After a slightly slower start, Weidemann in pair five set out for a pace slightly faster each lap than Sáblíková had been. Wiklund trailed the Canadian closely until about 3,000 m, but she faded quickly while the Weidemann ended in 6:48.18, guaranteeing her second medal of the Games after bronze in the 3,000 m. The other two 3K medalists once again faced-off in the final pair. Again, Francesca Lollobrigida took off quickly, while Schouten started a bit slower than Sáblíková. Before the halfway point, Schouten had passed Lollobrigida as well as Sáblíková’s splits. Racing a “negative split”, she recorded a faster second half of the race, bringing her well below the times of her rivals, finishing in 6:43.51, well below the 2002 Olympic Record.

For Sáblíková, her seventh medal made her the undisputed most successful Olympic athlete for the Czech Republic, beating out Kateřina Neumannová on gold medals won as well as total medals.