Dennis

Good first week for Dutch speed skating of course. I was rewatching some videos/interviews from the past week and noted that all Olympic champions in speed skating so far speak Dutch, including Bloemen of course, but also Kodaira. I really like how she comes across in interviews, she's very sweet. I was also really impressed by Erbanova's Dutch language skills. The interviewer was talking quite fast, but she understood everything and replied without taking time to think about how to phrase her answers.

Erbanova almost faster than Lee. Who would have thought that?!

First woman ever to skate sub 37 seconds outside of Calgary and Salt Lake City.

Good time for Ter Mors! Lee and Kodaira will be faster, but maybe she can finish top 5, which would be great.

Wouldn't be the first time someone falls in the team pursuit. Furthermore, skates with a 16-year old. I think the pressure will be big in the semi finals as a win would automatically mean a medal. Maybe the pressure will get to him.

First Dutch athlete ever competing in skeleton at WOG and she finished in 8th place. Really nice result!

Happy for Ter Mors! Hopefully she will win medals in two different sports at these OG.

Fauconnet will try everything possible and will get a penalty. No doubt!

Shim falling in her heat!

Pechstein apparently said to German tv that she wants to try to qualify for Beijing 2020. She'll be 50 then.

Visser!

Very impressive!

You think all three will go faster? I have my doubts about Sablikova.

Excited for tomorrow! This will be one of the most open 5km in a while, with Sablikova not being as good as she has been in the last decade, but still being one of the favorites.

No medal for Kramer? Probably bronze for

I agree, on the women's side, the remaining 4 events are actually a bit more open. is the favorite on the team pursuit as they train a lot together, whereas the Dutch girls don't train together. I would be surprised with any Dutch medal on the mass start. Schouten, our main contender, has not been in good shape recently on the long track. She does a little better in marathons. The 5k is a bit more open. Esmee Visser will make her debut and impressed me a lot this year and unexpectedly won the 3.000m at the European Championships, but the Dutch women have never been very dominant in this distance. Women's 500m: no chance for gold, Jorien ter Mors is nothing more than an outsider for the bronze, but I would be surprised with any medal in this event, especially with Sang-Hwa Lee and Nao Kodaira taking part. And Jorien ter Mors won the 1.000m based on her last lap, not on her opening or first lap, as many women were faster than her after 600m. On the men's side there are favorites on every distance. However, our main contender on the mass start is Koen Verweij and we all saw how he 'failed' on the 1.500m yesterday. Sven Kramer will be the other contender, but he will only take part to help Koen Verweij as much as possible and does not see it as one of his main events, unlike the 5.000m, 10.000m and team pursuit.

What an unexpected medal for Yara van Kerkhof!

Of course I'm not saying that speed skating is the most competitive sport, but since Sochi there has been a lot of discussion about the Dutch 'dominance' in speed skating. In this distance that's a valid argument as has won 37 medals at the World Single Distance Championships. The second best country is with 4 medals. Now at the Winter Olympic Games, the biggest competition in the world where everyone is trying to peak, we see that athletes from so many different countries and continents can fight for the medals and top 10 spots. In 2010 the top 10 consisted of athletes from 6 countries (2 continents) and in 2014 there were athletes from 5 countries all from Europe in the top 10. I think that what we saw today is a great result for the sport. These are Sven Kramer's final WOG, so I'm curious to see how this will develop in the next Olympic cycle.

Kramer won the 5.000m at every big event he took part in since the 2006 WOG. Event Gold Silver Bronze 2018 Winter Olympic Games Kramer Bloemen Pedersen 2017 World Championships Kramer Bergsma Michael 2016 World Championships Kramer Bergsma Pedersen 2015 World Championships Kramer Bergsma De Vries 2014 Winter Olympic Games Kramer Blokhuijsen Bergsma 2013 World Championships Kramer Bergsma Skobrev 2012 World Championships Kramer De Jong Kuck 2011 World Championships* De Jong Lee Skobrev 2010 Winter Olympic Games Kramer Lee Skobrev 2009 World Championships Kramer Bøkko Marsicano 2008 World Championships Kramer Fabris Olde Heuvel 2007 World Championships Kramer Fabris Verheijen 2006 Winter Olympic Games Hedrick Kramer Fabris * Kramer took a sabbatical from skating of a year after the 2010 WOG.

Nine different countries in the top 10: Name another event at the Winter Olympic Games with athletes from 9 different countries and 4 different continents finishing in the top 10.

Bloemen only became really successful after moving to Canada and training there.

Kramer! 5th Dutch medal at these Olympics

One of the first laps. It was really close.

Pedersen might be disqualified for that change-over.

Draw women's 3.000m (Saturday): Pairs: 01. Ida NJATUN - KIM Bo-Reum 02. Nikola ZDRAHALOVA - LIU Jing 03. Luiza ZLOTKOWSKA - Ayano SATO 04. Katarzyna BACHLEDA-CURUS - Roxanne DUFTER 05. Carlijn ACHTEREEKTE - Karolina BOSIEK 06. Francesca LOLLOBRIGIDA - HAO Jiachen 07. Carlijn SCHOUTENS - Brianne TUTT 08. Maryna ZUYEVA - Ayaka KIKUCHI 09. Isabelle WEIDEMANN - Ireen WUST 10. Claudia PECHSTEIN - Ivanie BLONDIN 11. Antoinette DE JONG - Miho TAKAGI 12. Natalia VORONINA - Martina SABLIKOVA @hckosice This is the final start list. Oshigiri, Manganello, Van der Weijden, Li are not on the final start list, whereas Kim is. Looking at the season so far, there are no clear favorites for this event. The favorites are in the 4 final pairs, though. Many women who can win a medal, so this could be an exciting first speed skating event.