Jorrit Bergsma and Patrick Roest have qualified for the Olympic ten kilometers in Beijing at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Thialf.
Bergsma and Roest were the towering favorites at the longest distance, also because five-time world champion Sven Kramer had unsubscribed. The Netherlands is allowed to delegate two skaters for the ten kilometers.
The 35-year-old Bergsma set a sharp time in the penultimate stage. The 2014 Olympic champion rode a so-called negative split, where he slowly started to decrease his lap times after five kilometers. Bergsma finished with two fast laps of 29.5 and crossed the line after 12.42.38 – his fifth time ever in Thialf.
Rust goes deep
In the final stage, Roest started faster than Bergsma, but the 2019 vice world champion was unable to accelerate at the end of his stage. In the last laps Roest had to suffer a lot to reach a time of 12.50.84. That was more than enough for second place and an Olympic ticket.
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