Olympic results 2018: Jorien ter Mors adds to Dutch speed skating haul with 1000m gold

No nation takes long-track speed skating as seriously as the Netherlands, and that hard work is paying off at the 2018 Winter Olympics. On Valentine’s Day, Dutch star Jorien ter Mors earned the third gold medal of her career with a record-setting victory in the 1000-meter long-track speed skating event.

Ter Mors’ time of 1:13.56 was a new Olympic record, eclipsing American Chris Witty’s time from the 2002 Games. Her win was an upset; Japanese skater Nao Kodaira, who set the latest world record with a blistering time of 1:12.09 back in December, was considered the odds-on favorite to take home the gold. Instead it was ter Mors, a +1000 underdog, who stood atop the podium at the Gangneung Oval, with Kodaira settling for second with what would have been an OR time of 1:13.82.

Kodaira’s teammate Miho Takagi came in third to secure the bronze medal for Japan.

The victory was another example of the Dutch dominance of the sport. As of Wednesday morning, there have been five gold medals awarded in long-track speed skating. All five have been won by athletes from the Netherlands.

But the Dutch success has also been America’s downfall. The United States’ long-track slump continued Wednesday as Heather Bergsma and Brittany Bowe, who were each considered potential medalists in the 1000m race, failed to find a spot on the podium. No American woman has earned a medal in long-track events since 2002 — the same year Witty set her now-broken record.

Bowe came in fourth place with a time of 1:14.36 — .80 seconds off ter Mors’ pace. Bergsma had to settle for eighth.

Here are the full results from Wednesday’s action on the oval.