5 February. Speed Skating. Men. Team race:
1. Korea - 4:00.43
2. Japan - 4:03.77
3. The Netherlands- 4:04.56
Teams from Korea, the Netherlands, Japan and Russia were considered major contenders in the men’s pursuit race. The Korean team brought its top skaters to Almaty, including those who have a good chance of winning at the 2018 Olympic Games.
The skaters from Korea had a comfortable win in the qualifying round in which nine teams took part and which was held earlier today, having finished ahead of the Japanese by a margin of more than 2 seconds. These two teams then battled it out for a win in final A where, again, the Korean skaters came out on top. This time they were more than 3 seconds faster than their rivals. In Final B, where the bronze medal was contested, the Dutch team finished ahead of the Chinese. The host team placed fifth while the Russian team unexpectedly came only seventh.
Representatives from the medal-winning teams shared their impressions:
Oh Hyunmin (Korea):
- Everything is great. This is a very useful experience – to compete against the Japanese skaters. I am grateful to this team for this rivalry.
Shohya Ogawa (Japan):
- Thank you to all! We had a good race. Of course, wanted to win gold but we are happy with silver too.
Jacob Vreugdenhill (the Netherlands):
- We are grateful to the organizers and fans for giving us such an amazing sports festival. We won and we are very happy. Thank you!
