Dutch speedskater Irene Schouten captured her second gold medal of the Beijing Games, clinching the women’s 5000m speed skating event on Thursday.
Schouten set an Olympic record during her podium-topping performance, clocking a time of 6:43.51, shattering Claudia Pechstein of Germany’s 6:46.91 set in 2002.
She does it! 💫Irene Schouten becomes the sixth woman to win gold in both the speed skating 3000m and 5000m!Oh yes and she did it while breaking a world record!!#WinterOlympics | #Olympics pic.twitter.com/9k8KRihXVo— On Her Turf (@OnHerTurf) February 10, 2022
She does it! 💫Irene Schouten becomes the sixth woman to win gold in both the speed skating 3000m and 5000m!Oh yes and she did it while breaking a world record!!#WinterOlympics | #Olympics pic.twitter.com/9k8KRihXVo
The 29-year-old’s 5000m gold joins her 3000m gold medal, which she took home earlier in the 2022 Games, becoming only the sixth woman in history to win both events.
Isabelle Weidemann of Canada finished behind Schouten for silver, while Czech skater Martina Sablikova rounded out the podium with bronze, taking home her seventh Olympic medal, making her the most decorated Olympian in Czech Republic history.
“I felt really good before the race, but I saw that Isabelle skated a really good time, and I thought ‘I have to be faster than (6:48),” Schouten said following the final. “But I skated really good, so I am happy.”