Wust makes history with gold at fifth straight Olympics

dpa Beijing Dutch icon Ireen Wust became the first athlete to win gold at five different Winter Olympics, with first place in 1,500 speed skating at the B...

dpaBeijing Dutch icon Ireen Wust became the first athlete to win gold at five different Winter Olympics, with first place in 1,500 speed skating at the Beijing Games on Monday.First place also made her the oldest gold medal winner in Olympic speed skating at 35 years, 312 days old.“It’s really hard to describe. A lot of emotions, especially the good ones. I don’t realize it yet. It’s insane, actually,” the Dutchwoman said.The 22-time world champion beat Canada’s Ivanie Blondin in the 12th pair at the National Speed Skating Oval, clocking 1 minute 53.28 seconds, trimming the previous Olympic record of 1:53.51 set by compatriot Jorien Mors in Sochi 2014.But the Dutch athlete had to hold her breath until the very end as Japan’s Miho Takagi, holder of the world record 1:49.83, made a strong bid for gold in the last pair. The Japanese, however, was 0.44 seconds off the pace and had to settle for silver.“After Ireen broke the Olympic record, I didn’t lose hope. I was convinced that if I tried my best, I still had the chance of winning gold,” Takgi said.“It is really a pity for me. Last time, I felt lucky to win a medal though I failed to be the champion. But I am not resigned to winning silver again.” Bronze also went to Netherlands in the form of Antoinette de Jong, 1.54 seconds behind the winner.“My race was not good, but it was good enough for the bronze medal, and I’m happy with that. The ice and I aren’t friends quite yet,” de Jong said.Wüst has an overall haul of six gold, five silver and one bronze from the 2006 Games onwards. The golds ahead of Monday were over 3,000m in 2006 and 2014, 1,500m in 2010 and 2018, plus a 2014 team gold.Ahead of the competition, she said this would be her last Games as she plans to retire after the World Cup final in the Netherlands in March.Brittany Bowe, bronze medallist in 2018 for the United States, praised the Dutch skater for her 12th Olympic medal.“Words can’t describe her class. I mean, she’s the greatest of all time as her performance shows. I’m honoured to have competed against her for so many years and even more so to call her a friend,” Bowe said.This was the second gold medal in Beijing for speed skating powerhouse Netherlands, after Irene Schouten secured first place in the 3,000m race on Saturday.