Winter Olympics: Speedskaters give Dutch clean sweep

Michel Mulder won gold in the 500m speedskating pictured here with Jan Smeekens (left), silver, and Ronald Mulder, bronze. Photo / AP

The Dutch have taken their domination at the Olympic speedskating oval to a new level.

They aren't just hoarding most of the medals. Now, they're keeping it in the family.

Michel Mulder led another sweep by the Netherlands at Adler Arena yesterday, edging teammate Jan Smeekens by 12-thousandths of a second. Mulder's identical twin brother, Ronald, got the bronze.

"It is a dream, of course, to come here, me and my twin brother," Michel Mulder said. "It would be the perfect scenario to be 1-2, but together on the podium is amazing."

It was the first gold medal ever in the men's 500m for the Netherlands, which also became the first country to take the top three Olympic spots in the sport's most furious race.

Smeekens led after the first of two heats and the scoreboard initially showed a tie after he crossed the line in the second leg, based on hundredths of a second. After a bit more tabulating, Mulder had the gold with a total of 1 minute, 9.312 seconds carried out to the thousandths of a second in the official results to show just how close it was.

The silver went to Smeekens in 1:09.324, while Ronald Mulder grabbed the bronze with the fastest run of the day, 34.49 in the second round to finish at 1:09.46.

"I didn't really realise what time I needed," Michel Mulder said. "In the past, I have lost races by one-hundredths a few times. It was so unbelievable."

Indeed, he lost to Mo Tae-bum by that margin at the 2012 world single-distance championships in Heerenveen.

"Now, Olympic champion," Mulder said.

Smeekens led after the opening heat, putting up a time of 34.59s to claim the coveted final race of the second round, which meant he would know the time to beat. It turns out, he just missed.

When the scoreboard flashed the unofficial time, Smeekens slapped his coach's hand and rocked his head back in delight. But it's common in speedskating for the timing system to make slight adjustments, and the celebration was premature.

Smeekens' time was adjusted upward just enough to turn gold into silver. "It was a kick in the gut," he said. "I was really happy and then really disappointed."

Mulder, watching the scoreboard intently from a bench on the infield, began jumping around in delight when he realised the gold was his. And having his twin on the medal stand with him only made it sweeter.

Smeekens buried his head in his hands as he glided around the track. He still seemed a little dazed when he came to the podium for the flower ceremony, flanked by the beaming brothers.

The Dutch team is blowing away the competition at the big oval. The Orange Crush also went 1-2-3 in the men's 5000m, with Sven Kramer taking gold, and Ireen Wust grabbed the top spot in the women's 3000m. The Netherlands has taken seven of nine medals awarded over the first three days of speedskating.

- AP