Team Pursuit (6 laps), Women

In both 2006 and 2010, Germany had won the team pursuit. But in 2014, Germany was not at the start, having failed to qualify their team at the World Cup races earlier in the season. The clear favorites were the Dutch women. Their four team members had placed 1-2-3-4 at the 1,500 m earlier in the Games, and the Dutch were also the 2012 and 2013 World Champions. Poland and Korea had medalled at the 2013 Sochi Worlds, but Japan and Canada had also medalled at recent World Cups, while host nation Russia was considered a serious contender as well.

The home team needed to overcome Canada in the quarter-finals, which they only managed in the final laps, as Christine Nesbitt faded on the Canadian side. The other three races weren’t so close, Poland dismissing Norway, Japan beating Korea and the Netherlands breaking the Olympic Record against the United States. Like Poland in the men’s event, the Japanese women didn’t put up an effort against the Dutch in the semi-finals, but the Dutch didn’t seem to care, bettering their own Olympic Record. The other semi-final saw Poland solidly beat Russia, leading the host nation from start to finish. Poland, which had won a surprise bronze in 2010, seemed content with silver, and didn’t really press the Dutch, who recorded their third Olympic record of the competition with 2:58.05. The bronze medal race was more exciting, with Japan taking an early lead. The Russians gained steam halfway through, and eventually won the bronze by a clear margin.

Ireen Wüst’s second gold medal of the Sochi Olympics made her the athlete with the highest number of medals in Sochi (5). She brought her all-time Olympic medal totals to 4 golds, 3 silvers and a bronze - a record for any Dutch Olympian.