Gold for Femke Kok in 500m long-track, silver for Jutta Leerdam
Femke Kok has taken the speed skating 500 metres Olympic title in a new Olympic record of 36.69. Jutta Leerdam, who beat Kok to win gold in the 1,000 metres, took silver, while Japan’s Miho Takagi won bronze.
Kok was in the last race, against defending champion Erin Jackson of the US, and soon streaked ahead, adding a fifth gold to the Netherlands’ collection so far and the second long track win.
She is the first Dutch woman to win an Olympic medal at this distance.
“So many people expected I would win,” said Kok, who has not lost over the distance all season. “And I put myself under a lot of pressure as well. If you always win, then you want to win again. But everything has to be right and I know how difficult that can be.”
Dutch skaters are back on the rink on Monday with plenty of short track action and on Tuesday with the finals of the team pursuit.
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.
We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.
Make a donation