USA Speed ​​Skaters Take Bronze in Team Pursuit


The United States placed third in the speed skating team pursuit on Tuesday, taking home the second American speed skating medal of this Olympics. The United States men were favored to win the event and world record holders in the team quest, placing third place equal parts success and disappointment.

The American team of Joey Mantia, Casey Dawson and Emery Lehman beat the Netherlands by almost three seconds in the B final – namely the bronze medal race. Norway won the gold medal for the second consecutive Olympics, beating Russia in the final.

But an unexpected decision potentially cost the USA a chance to race Norway in the final. Mantia, the most successful American skater, did not skate against a team from Russia in the semifinals and was selected by the team as Ethan Cepuran to compete with Dawson and Lehman.

Dawson, Lehman and Cepuran glided well through the middle of the race – their time of 3 minutes 37.05 seconds was faster than the Olympic record (and faster than the Americans’ skating with Mantia in the B final). But the Russians had an even better race and won by almost half a second.

Cepuran and Mantia said they were a little disappointed with their semi-final loss. “How unlucky can you be that Russia went four seconds faster in the semifinal than in the final?” said Mantia. “The race of their lives. You can’t really be sorry about that. Just a little unlucky.”

The team said the plan has always been for Mantia not to slip in the quarterfinals. Before the semi-finals, the skaters sat down and talked openly about how they were feeling, which resulted in Cepuran skating in the semi-finals instead of Mantia. After the semi-finals, Cepuran was more tired than Dawson, who came late to the olympics and it was fresher and so he stepped aside for Mantia.

In the men’s team pursuit, three team members skate in single file for eight laps, counting the time it took for the last skater to cross the finish line. Usually every lap or two, the front skater, who does the grueling job of setting the pace while the others glide with his own flow, grazes the back and allows a new teammate to take the lead and suffer.

As a group of individuals, United States skaters are less successful than most of their competitors. None of them had won an Olympic medal before, for example, and none came particularly close, with the exception of Mantia. Their rivals in the bronze medal race were the Dutch, led by nine-time Olympic medalist Sven Kramer and four-time medalist Patrick Roest.

But the United States has prioritized a team pursuit over the past four years. bold and innovative strategy this turned upside down how the race was run. The United States has one member leading the entire race, rather than changing the role of who will slide ahead, while teammates use the energy saved to physically push each other forward. The strategy was successful: the Americans set the world record in Salt Lake City in December, and the Norwegians, who won the gold on Tuesday, freely admitted that they copied it.

The bronze medal came in the first for all skaters in the United States and the third for 36-year-old Mantia, and possibly the final Olympics. She looked like she stopped retiring without winning an Olympic medal after finishing sixth last week. 1,500 meters.

“This is heartbreaking, you know,” Mantia said at the time. “I really thought this was my chance.”

After finally winning a medal, it was hard to be disappointed. “In a sense, I feel like a weight has been lifted” said Mantia. “I’m an Olympic medalist.”

In the women’s team pursuit, the favored Canadians beat the Japanese and set a new Olympic record. The Japanese led the entire race, but at the final corner Nana Takagi suddenly lost her balance and fell, giving the gold medal to the Canadians. Netherlands beat Russia for bronze.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *