Shorttrack king Jens van ‘t Wout added a bronze medal at 500m to his two golds as he was edged out by Canadian Steven Dubois and his brother Melle.

Jens was favourite for gold after winning the 1000m and 1500m titles earlier in the week, but got off to a slow start and fell back to fourth place after the third Dutch finalist, Teun Boer, crashed out of the race in front of him.

Melle crowned his 26th birthday with a silver medal behind Dubois, while the 24-year-old Jens overtook the second Canadian, William Dandjinou, who was later penalised for taking out Boer.

Team coach Niels Kerstholst claimed the Canadians had teamed up to deny Jens van ‘t Wout, who posted the fastest time in the semi-finals, the gold medal.

“They were very smart,” he said. “They slowed the race down so that everyone bumped into each other. They had to do that because otherwise Jens would have gobbled them up.”

Jens van ‘t’ Wout paid tribute to his brother, who was kept out of the sport for two years by a knee injury, after the race. “If anyone has worked hard for this, it’s Melle,” he said.

“Ever since we started to enjoy the sport, we’ve wanted to go to the Olympics together,” he told NOS. “We’ve always talked about: imagine if we both get to the final of the 500m and then make it to the podium.”

Relay agony

There was agony for the women’s relay team as they finished out of the medals after Xandra Velzeboer, winner of the individual 500m and 1000m, crashed out on the opening laps.

On Thursday there are more Dutch medal hopes as defending champion Kjeld Nuis lines up for the final of the 1500m on the long track, where his rivals include team-mates Joep Wennemars and Tijmen Snel.

American Jordan Stolz, who has already won gold at 500m and 1000m, will start as favourite.