Michel Mulder won gold as the Netherlands’ domination of the speed skating events at Sochi 2014 continued with a clean sweep in the men’s 500m.
Mulder, 27, finished only 0.01 seconds ahead of Jan Smeekens with a combined time of 69.32secs. A fine second run from Ronald Mulder earned him bronze, making them only the second set of twins to win medals in the same event at the Winter Olympics. The Dutch had already won gold in the men’s 5,000m and women’s 3,000m races. There was confusion at the death, as Smeekens initially thought he had earned a tie for the gold after he crossed the line. But the clock then adjusted the official times, which is a common occurrence in speed skating, giving Mulder the slimmest of victories. “I did not really realise what time I needed,” he said. “In the past, I have lost races by one-hundredths a few times. It was so unbelievable – now, [I am] Olympic champion.”
Behind the Dutch trio, Vancouver 2010 gold winner Tae Bum Mo finished fourth, with the other medallists from the 2010 Winter Games taking the next two spots – bronze winner Joji Kato of Japan was fifth, with countryman and reigning silver medallist Keiichiro Nagashima sixth. – BBC Sports
