In a very tight contest at the beginning and with a surprising result, the Italian men’s team left the Americans behind and took gold in the pursuit event in speed skating at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games.
It is Italy’s ninth gold medal at these games. On Sunday, Lisa Vittozzi gave the country its eighth gold in a Winter Games, surpassing the seven obtained in Lillehammer (Norway), in 1994.
The North American team holds the world record for the race, with 3:32.49, achieved last November in Salt Lake City. This Tuesday (17), however, they clocked 3min43.71. Italy clocked 3min39.20, almost 5 seconds ahead of the record holders. The fans present at the Milan skating stadium were very excited about the Italian victory.
In the female version, there is also a certain surprise. The Canadian team overtook the Dutch team at the end of the race and took gold, with a time of 2min55.81, less than a second ahead of the Dutch team (2min56.77). The Japanese took bronze, with 2min58.50.
The first gold medal on the 14th day of the Games went to Norway, which continues to lead the medal table.
Jens Luraas Oftebro finished first in the Gundersen Nordic individual long track/10km combined, with a time of 24min45.0. Silver went to Austrian Johannes Lamparter, with 24min50.9. Finnish Ilkka Herola, with 24min59.8, won bronze.
In this Nordic combined, athletes participate in two disciplines: ski jumping and cross-country. The first is ski jumping, in which they descend at great speed down a ramp (the “long track” ramp at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium is 141 meters; the “normal” ramp is 107 meters), jump and try to cover the greatest distance in the air before touching the ground. This distance and the jumping style, evaluated by five judges of different nationalities, generate the score that will determine the order and starting time of the competitors in the cross-country.
In the jump, Japanese Ryota Yamamoto came first and won the right to start ahead of his competitors. He covered 136.5 meters and achieved 150 points. Oftebro came in fifth place, with a jump of 132.5 meters and 144.6 points. Each point difference below the leader’s score generates a 4-second delay in the athlete’s start. Thus, Oftebro, with 5.4 points less than Yamamoto, started 22 seconds after him. The Japanese finished the race in 15th place, 2min24.4 after the Norwegian. On Wednesday (11), Oftebro had already won gold in the short track competition.
The French team in the men’s 4 x 7.5 km biathlon relay gave the country its fifth gold medal. The team made up of Fabien Claude, Emilien Jacquelin, Quentin Fillon Maillet and Éric Perrot arrived ahead of the Norwegians (silver) and the Swedes (bronze).
Brazil’s only participation this Tuesday was in the men’s doubles bobsled. Until the third heat (there are four in total), Edson Bindilatti and Luís Bacca were in 24th position.
