Speed ​​skating: a group start – Wenger should settle for an Olympic diploma

No chance in the final race

Although the 29-year-old once again qualified for the top 16 final, the Lucerne native had to settle for a somewhat disappointing seventh place. Wenger has put himself in a promising position in the National Speed ​​Skating Oval. The Swiss ran continuously 16 laps into the back of eventual winner Bart Swings.

However, on the last lap, Wenger not only got away with the swing, but many other athletes as well. The runner-up at the European Championships last January could not close the gap to the top and crossed the finish line in sixth place. Due to sprint points, Wenger slipped to seventh in the final standings.

“Tactically, I was able to show the perfect race. But in the end I didn’t have my legs to put on weight. The disappointment is big and it hurts brutally. But the next Olympics are in four years and I’ll try again,” Wenger summed up visibly animated.

South Korea’s Chung Jae-won and Lee Seung-hoon took the silver and bronze behind Swings, the gold medalist.

Nadia Wenger in the semi-finals

With Livio’s sister Nadia Wenger, Switzerland was also represented in the women’s mass start race. The 30-year-old never made it past the semi-finals on her Olympic debut. Wenger finished 10th in her competition, with only the top 8 semi-finalists buying a ticket for the Olympic final.

Scott’s third gold medal

The gold went to Irene Schouten from the Netherlands, who had already triumphed over 3000 and 5000 meters in Beijing. After a thrilling final, she won by a hair’s length against Canadian Evanni Blondin and Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida.

Olympian Claudia Bechstein missed the record for the best result in the mass start race at her 8th Winter Games. Three days before her fiftieth birthday, the German speed skating legend took ninth place.