American speedskater Shani Davis did not three-peat in the men’s 1000m in Sochi. He ended up in eighth at 1:09.02.
It would have been the first time an American won the gold in the event in three straight Olympics.
The Netherlands secured yet another gold medal in the sport when Stefan Groothuis crossed the finish line at 1:08.39. Davis took the defeat in stride. He skated over to Groothuis, embraced him in a huge hug and gave him a slap on the back.
This was a great experience for Groothuis. He struggles with depression and once contemplated suicide. His gold is the fourth for the Dutch in speed skating; 500m gold medalist Michel Mulder placed third with 1:08.74.
For good measure, 500 champion Michel Mulder took the bronze, giving the Netherlands 10 out of a possible 15 medals overall through the first five events — a dominating performance that sets them up to crush the record for most speedskating medals by a country at a single Olympics.
Denny Morrison of Canada took the silver with 1:08.43.
America has not won a medal in speed skating. Brian Hansen placed ninth and cried at the end of the race. Joey Mantia was 15th and Jonathan Garcia placed 28th.
Davis is the top-ranked skater in the world and set the world record at 1:06.42 in Salt Lake City in 2009 while Gerard van Velde of The Netherlands set the Olympic record at 1:07.18 in 2002 in Salt Lake City.
Davis owns five Olympic medals and 57 World Cup medals. This is 10 shy of the all time record.
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