Bart Swings took bronze at the World Allround Speed Skating Championships in Norway. He came in second in the closing 10,000m, good for third place all-round. The gold went to the Swede Nils van der Poel, defending champion Patrick Roest came in second.
Nils van der Poel won the 10 kilometers in 12’41″56 and thus bagged the world title. Van der Poel is the first Swede since 1973 to achieve this prestigious title.
In the closing number, the two-time Olympic gold winner smashed the track record of Dutchman Sven Kramer.
The Dutch defending champion Patrick Roest ended up in second place. After 3 distances (500, 1,500 and 5,000 meters), Roest was still the leader.
The triple world champion all-round was allowed to lose 21″7 in the 10 kilometers, but the pressure was too great. Roest lost no less than three quarters of a minute and thus finished 2nd in the standings.
In the final score, Nils van der Poel has 22″80 ahead of Roest, 30″44 over Bart Swings and 48″04 over the Norwegian Peder Kongshaug.
Swings 2nd at 10 kilometers:
Swings takes bronze for the second time
For a week, Bart Swings hadn’t focused on skating. The Olympic mass start champion had to go from celebration to party.
But Swings managed to focus in time on this World Allround Championship, a all-around event over 2 days and 4 distances.
In the closing 10 kilometers, Swings enjoyed the “privilege” of directly going into a duel with Van der Poel.
The long-distance all-rounder almost lapped Swings. Still, it led to the second place for Swings. As a result, our compatriot passed the Norwegian Peder Kongshaug in the standings.
Earlier in the day, Swings had won the 1,500m in 1’46″03. He had moved from 6th place after day 1 to position 4. Thanks to a strong 10 km, Swings slid to bronze, for the second time in his career (after 2013, also in Hamar).
In a week, Swings will close the season with the World Cup final in the Thialf Arena in Heerenveen. It is the place where he went to live for skating.
Final score:
