By Sakura Murakami
BEIJING (Reuters) – The Netherlands’ Sven Kramer skated in his last Olympic 5000m race in Beijing on Sunday, signing off from an event he once dominated with three consecutive gold medals to establish a reputation as one of his country’s top sportsmen.
His last long-distance individual race saw him place ninth out of 20 skaters as his Olympic record was broken twice – first by fellow Dutchman Patrick Roest and then by Swede Nils van der Poel nL4N2UH06T, who won gold in six minutes 08.84 seconds.
“After a 6:17.04, I thought I could have walked a bit faster through all this (the media interviews), but that didn’t work out,” Kramer said after his race with a laugh.
“I think I can take that as a compliment. Not for today’s (result), but for the past 15 years. The moral of the story is just that this was my last 5000m.”
Kramer has struggled with back problems in recent years and underwent surgery in 2021. Despite hoping to win a medal in Beijing, the 35-year-old said he realised it was not realistic.
“I knew it was going to be my last one. When I went to the rink, I knew this was the last time I’d skate the 5000m,” he added.
Kramer is the only man to win three straight gold medals in a speed skating event although his Olympic career got off to a mixed started with a silver and a fall at Turin 2006.
After finishing second in the 5000m, he skated in the Netherlands team pursuit as one of the favourites.
The Dutch were leading Italy by nearly a second in their semi-final but Kramer stepped on a block and fell, taking team mate Carl Verheijen with him. They got a team pursuit bronze.
He returned four years later in Vancouver, where his domination of the 5000m began.
After the Olympics, he plans to take on a management role with Team Jumbo-Visma, a professional Dutch sports team.
(Reporting by Sakura Murakami; Editing by Ken Ferris)
