Dutch Mulder twins both claim medals in Sochi Olympics 500m speed skating
Baku, February 11 (AZERTAC). The Dutch dominance of speed skating events at the Sochi winter Olympics continued with a clean sweep of the men’s 500m event - which included the first twins to win medals in the same event since 1984.
Michel Mulder of the Netherlands won the men’s 500 meters Olympic speed skating title by the tightest of margins on Monday, with his twin brother Ronald settling for bronze in another Dutch clean sweep of the medals.
Mulder clocked a total time of 69.31 seconds for his two 500m races, pipping compatriot Jan Smeekens by just 0.01 seconds.
Ronald Mulder was 0.15 seconds behind his brother as the Dutch duo became the first twins to win medals in the same individual Winter Olympics event since Americans Phil and Steven Mahre achieved the feat in alpine skiing at the 1984 Sarajevo Games.
It was the third Dutch victory from three speed skating events at the Sochi Games so far.
Smeekens, competing a day before his 27th birthday, topped the time sheets after the first round of races with a blistering 34.59 seconds to leave the Mulder twins and defending champion Mo Tae-bum of South Korea trailing. Ronald Mulder then produced a best-of-the-day 34.49 seconds to jump from sixth into gold medal position after his second run with only six skaters left. However, twin brother Michel bettered his sibling’s aggregate total in the penultimate heat against a disappointing Mo, who finished fourth.
Mulder watched from the inside of the course as Smeekens almost snatched the gold from him, and was left looking on anxiously as the scoreboard took its time to announce the winner. When it showed he had done just enough to claim gold the 27-year-old ripped open his suit and screamed in delight.
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