Patrick Roest produces storming finish to win 5000m final on huge day for Dutch at European Speed Skating Championships
BySportsbeat
Updated 06/01/2024 at 22:01 GMT
Patrick Roest left it late but produced a storming finish to win 5000m final on a golden day for Dutch skaters at the European Speed Skating Championships. Roest's time of 6:05.93 seconds saw him beat Italy's Davide Ghiotto by 2.34 seconds, with Norway's Sander Eitrem rounding out the podium, Elsewhere, there were also Dutch gold medals for Femke Kok and Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong.
Patrick Roest of Netherlands celebrates victory and winning the gold medal after he competes in the 5000m Men race during the ISU European Speed Skating Championships at Thialf Arena on January 06, 2024 in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
Image credit: Getty Images
Patrick Roest, Femke Kok and Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong spearheaded Dutch success with gold medals at the ISU European Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen on Saturday.
Roest left it late to win gold on home ice in the men's 5000m.
Ahead of the Dutchman's race, Norway's Sander Eitrem led the competition and up against Italian racer Davide Ghiotto, it was always going to be a close contest for a top-three finish.
At one stage in their tussle, Ghiotto led Eitram by over a second, while Roest appeared to struggle and looked unlikely to make up ground.
With four laps to go, however, the unthinkable began to happen. A mixture of the home crowd and sheer will propelled the four-time Olympic medallist to secure gold with a time of 6:05.93 seconds.
Ghiotto would finish second, 2.34 seconds behind his race partner, consigning Eitrem to bronze.
In all, the host nation have won five of the first seven medals on offer, with Kok retaining the European title she won two years ago in the women's 500m with a time of 37.28 seconds.
Kok's closest rival was six-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist Jutta Leerdam, just 0.42 seconds separating the pair. Austria's Vanessa Herzog completed the podium with a time of 37.89 in what was a closely fought contest.
Rijpma-De Jong was the winner of an enthralling women's 1500m competition, which saw Netherlands complete a clean sweep of the podium.
Competing in the ninth race of the competition, Rijpma-de Jong retained her title in a time of 1:53.48 seconds, with her racing partner Marijke Groenewoud just 0.18 seconds adrift in second, and Joy Beune completing the Dutch success in third.
Poland finished 0.5 seconds ahead of Norway to claim gold in the men's Team Sprint. The team comprised of Marek Kania, Piotr Michalski and Damian Zurek clinched top spot, with Netherlands having to settle for bronze.
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