It took Sven Kramer barely six minutes to shake off four years of Olympic frustration. The Dutch speedskater claimed the only major trophy that had eluded himOlympic gold — with a Games record in the 5,000 meters.
“I was dying in the end, so I think it was one of my hardest, and even my best race ever,” he said.
The 23-year-old pre-race favorite won in 6 minutes, 14.60, shaving six-hundredths of a second off Jochem Uytdehaage’s Olympic record set at altitude in Salt Lake City in 2002.
Lee Seung-hoon of South Korea, who entered the race because he failed to make the South Korean short-track team, was second in 6:16.95. Ivan Skobrev of Russia was third in 6:18.05.
Americans Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick finished 11th and 12th, respectively.
“It just goes to show he has the heart of a champion. He had to go out first, and he had a whole bunch of sharpshooters behind him,” said Davis, who was paired with Kramer.
