Jorrit Bergsma, the 40-year-old Dutch speed skater, won the men's mass start gold at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday, adding to his bronze in the 10,000m. His time of 7:55.50 secured victory ahead of Denmark's Viktor Hald Thorup and Italy's Andrea Giovannini.
Bergsma's win denied American Jordan Stolz a third gold, which would have made him the first man in 32 years to win three long-track speed skating golds at a single Games. Stolz, 21, had previously won the 500m and 1000m with Olympic records, and a silver in the 1500m.
Bergsma is the third athlete in his 40s to win an individual gold at these Games, following US bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor and Austrian snowboarder Benjamin Karl. Before Milano Cortina, the only Winter Olympian aged 40 or older to win an individual gold was Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen in 2014.
In the race, Bergsma started near the back but moved forward steadily. He and Thorup broke away, leading by nearly 300m with five laps to go. Bergsma made his decisive move on the penultimate lap and held on for victory. 'That was crazy, mind-blowing,' he said. 'I was expecting a really hard final, but nobody wanted to do the first attack. I did it.'
Stolz, who led early, could not close the gap in the final laps. 'I thought maybe the other guys would pull, but they all decided to follow me,' he said. Despite missing a third gold, Stolz was satisfied: 'Two golds and a silver, I have got to be pretty happy with that.'
In the women's mass start, Dutch skater Marijke Groenewoud won gold, Canada's Ivanie Blondin took silver, and USA's Mia Manganello, 36, claimed bronze in her final Winter Games.
