SPEED SKATING: Just two days after tragically falling in his 500m, Australia’s Daniel Greig has got back on his feet and put down strong performance in the men’s 1000m Speed Skating to finish 22nd in 1 minute, 10.13 seconds.
SPEED SKATING: Just two days after tragically falling in his 500m, Australia’s Daniel Greig has got back on his feet and put down strong performance in the men’s 1000m Speed Skating to finish 22nd in 1 minute, 10.13 seconds.
Greig put the demons of his 500m behind him and focused on what he what he wanted to achieve – a strong race befitting of his talent and determination as a skater.
Paired up against Daichi Yamanaka of Japan, Greig showed no nerves and left nothing out on the rink.
With all his training focused on his pet event, the 500m, Greig had a blinding first lap. At 600m his time was well under the leaders, but he just didn’t have it in him to close out the race at the same pace.
“I didn’t go out way too fast deliberately, that was my plan. I am trained as a 500m sprinter - I haven’t really got a gauge on the 1000m speed like the other skaters do. It showed that the 500m should have been more my distance. But unfortunately I didn’t get to show it there,” Greig said.
“I got pretty unlucky with the draw in the sense that I didn’t get a fast competitor – I didn’t get any help out in that last back straight.”
Greig was upbeat about his performance and happy that he was able to prove to himself and the world that he has what it takes to compete at the Olympics.
When asked how he bounced back from the devastation of falling in the 500m, Greig described a day of “emotional turmoil”.
“It’s been an experience that has made me much mentally stronger and it really challenged my ability to pick the positives out of any experience that I have,” he said.
“Even from this race I am walking away seeing the positives that I am fast over the 500m, whether I got to show it in that race or not.
“Even though I am not particularly high up the rankings, for my age I am doing extremely well – pretty young and pretty early in my career.
Greig is now looking forward to a few days off to see some of his fellow Aussies, in particular Lydia Lassila, compete and then will set his sights on PyeongChang.
“This is a very, very good foundation for me to build off towards the next Olympics,” he said.
With the field full of Olympic and World Championship medallists, the push for the podium was an exciting one.
In the 16th pairing, it was Dutch skater Stefan Groothuis who stole the show and got the crowd roaring.
Groothuis, who suffered a similar fate to Greig and fell at the beginning of his second 500m race on Monday, started his 1000m race solidly but not fast.
He gained speed, clocking a staggering 25.12 in his first full lap and 26.63 in his final lap, flying over the line in 1:08.39.
"When I started, I didn't even know what the best time was and when I crossed the finish line, I was really surprised. It was the best time I've ever skated on a low-altitude track," Groothuis said.
All the hot favourites for the event were grouped up in the final four pairings, and when the 500m Champion Michel Mulder of The Netherlands came onto the ice, the crowd reached fever pitch.
Mulder skated over the finish line in 1:08.74, a fraction off Canadian Danny Morrison who he was paired against who finished in 1:08.43, putting the pair in second and third places respectively.
With three more pairings still to come, the question was posted – could Groothuis hold his lead?
Next to skate was the dual defending Olympic Champion Shani Davis looking to make history as the first male speed skater to win three consecutive gold medals in the same event.
Davis was off the pace from the outset however, ending up in eighth on 1:09.12.
Next it was Mo Tae Bum of Korea up against Brian Hansen of the USA, both highly credentialed skaters but again, they couldn’t catch the leaders.
The final pairing saw the reigning World Champion over 1000m, Denis Kuzin of Kazakhstan, take on powerhouse Italian skater Mirko Nenzi. The race for gold was on.
Both athletes failed to fire and the results were locked in, Groothius, the oldest competitor in the field at 32, had won gold. It was the fourth Dutch gold Speed Skating medal from the five events contested so far. With Mulder taking the bronze, the Netherlands have notched 10 out of a possible 15 medals so far.
For Morrison, winning silver was particularly special. The medal was his third at an Olympics, but first individual and he was able to get it because of his teammate Gilmore Junio. Morrison had failed to qualify for the 1000m in Sochi because he fell at the Canadian trials, but teammate Junio pulled out to hand his colleague a shot at the medals.
