Beijing 2022 speed skating wrap-up - top stories, moments and records
From Ireen Wüst’s unprecedented milestone to Erin Jackson’s historic Olympic gold and a treble of individual golds for Irene Schouten, take a closer look at speed skating's most memorable moments at Beijing 2022, the best quotes and all the medals.
Speed Skating
Records are meant to be broken, and we have witnessed these historic moments no fewer than 14 times across as many disciplines contested at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing.
The Netherlands continued their dominance in the sport as Irene Schouten set the tone in the early stages of Beijing 2022. The 29-year-old set an Olympic record in women’s 3000m to win the gold on the first day, before going on to set another Olympic record in 5000m to grab her second gold five days later. Both records had been previously set 20 years ago in Salt Lake City by Germany’s Claudia Pechstein, who made a record eighth Olympics appearance in Beijing at the age of 49.
Another veteran took centre stage in women’s 1500m, where legendary Ireen Wüst broke the Olympic record to win her third gold in the distance and her sixth Olympic title. The 35-year-old also grabbed a bronze in team pursuit to take her medal tally to 13 in five Winter Games: six golds, five silvers and two bronzes.
In the men’s events, Sweden’s Nils van der Poel stole the show by becoming the new champion in 5000m and 10000m, dethroning Dutch legend and Sven Kramer in the process. The 25-year-old also set the Olympic records in both distances, with the latter being a new world record as well. However, that was not enough to prevent the Team NL from rounding off another successful campaign as Thomas Krol and Kjeld Nuis finished first in 1000m and 1500m respectively.
Meanwhile, the final day of the competition saw Bart Swings win the men’s mass start to claim Belgium’s first Winter Games gold since 1948, before Schouten completed her individual treble by adding another gold in the mass start.
Top three moments
1 - Wüst makes history in her swan song
Dutch legend Ireen Wüst successfully defended her title in women’s 1500m to consolidate her status as the most decorated athlete in the Games. Not only did she win her sixth gold medal in the Olympics, but Wüst also became the first and only athlete to have won individual gold in each and every edition of the five Winter Games she took part in.
She also became the second speed skater to collect five Olympic medals in the same event, with three golds at Vancouver 2010, PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022, a silver at Sochi 2014 and a bronze at Torino 2006. The feat had been only achieved by Claudia Pechstein, who dominated in the women’s 5000m from 1992 to 2006.
2 - Double delight for Nils
World record holder and defending world champion Nils van der Poel did not only break his own record to win the men’s 10000m (12:30.74), but also became the 10th man to win the long-distance double at the same edition of the Olympic Winter Games.
The versatile Swede, who was in fact the only speed skater representing Sweden at Beijing 2022, also ended a 34-year drought of gold since Tomas Gustafson became the back-to-back 5000m champion at Sarajevo 1984 and Calgary 1988.
3 - Jackson repays the faith in style
Having failed to qualify for the Winter Games after a slip during the US Olympic trials, Erin Jackson could only take part in women's 500m at Beijing 2022 after her teammate Brittany Bowe relinquished her spot.
And the 29-year-old made the best of her second chance, beating Japan’s Takagi Miho by just 0.08 second to win her first Olympic gold medal on her second attempt. Not a bad result for the former inline skater, who had finished 24th in 500m on her debut at PyeongChang 2018.
What they said
"This is just amazing. There's a lot of different emotions going through my mind right now. I mean, it's just bizarre that I was able to pull it off once again. The whole week, I have been feeling great. I skated very well, and I knew I could trust myself. I was confident that I was able to do it today. To then have a race like this one is just incredible. I just have no words for it."
Ireen Wüst, after winning her third gold in women’s 1500m and her sixth overall in the Games
"My teammate Brittany [Bowe] was amazing, very selfless. She sacrificed her spot to help me get on the time. I was really grateful for her doing that and then luckily, we ended up getting that third spot, so then she was able to race as well. It was just amazing having her out there on the ice. We could just be happy together after the race."
Erin Jackson, commenting on what she went through getting to Beijing 2022
Full medal list in speed skating at Beijing2022
Women’s events
500m
Gold: Erin Jackson (USA)
Silver: Takagi Miho (JPN)
Bronze: Angelina Golikova (ROC)
1000m
Gold: Takagi Miho (JPN)
Silver: Jutta Leerdam (NED)
Bronze: Brittany Bowe (USA)
1500m
Gold: Ireen Wüst (NED)
Silver: Takagi Miho (JPN)
Bronze: Antoinette de Jong (NED)
3000m
Gold: Irene Schouten (NED)
Silver: Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA)
Bronze: Isabelle Weidemann (CAN)
5000m
Gold: Irene Schouten (NED)
Silver: Isabelle Weidemann (CAN)
Bronze: Martina Sablikova (CZE)
Mass start
Gold: Irene Schouten (NED)
Silver: Ivanie Blondin (CAN)
Bronze: Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA)
Team pursuit
Gold: Canada
Silver: Japan
Bronze: Netherlands
Men’s events
500m
Gold: Gao Tingyu (CHN)
Silver: Cha Minkyu (KOR)
Bronze: Morishige Wataru (JPN)
1000m
Gold: Thomas Krol (NED)
Silver: Laurent Dubreuil (CAN)
Bronze: Haavard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR)
1500m
Gold: Kjeld Nuis (NED)
Silver: Thomas Krol (NED)
Bronze: Kim Minseok (KOR)
5000m
Gold: Nils van der Poel (SWE)
Silver: Patrick Roest (NED)
Bronze: Hallgeir Engebraaten (NOR)
10000m
Gold: Nils van der Poel (SWE)
Silver: Patrick Roest (NED)
Bronze: Davide Ghiotto (ITA)
Mass start
Gold: Bart Swings (BEL)
Silver: Chung Jaewon (KOR)
Bronze: Lee Seunghoon (KOR)
Team pursuit
Gold: Norway
Silver: ROC
Bronze: United States of America