Sandrine Tas narrowly misses Olympic medal in 5,000 metres
Belgian speed skater Sandrine Tas finished fourth in the 5,000 metres at the Winter Olympics on Thursday, just missing out on a medal. Gold went to home favourite Francesca Lollobrigida at the Speed Skating Stadium in Milan.
Tas achieved a time of 6:46.47, almost six seconds faster than her Belgian record. That was not enough for a medal, as Norway’s Ragne Wiklund finished in 6:46.34, just 13 hundredths of a second faster. Dutch champion Merel Conijn secured silver in 6:46.27, while Lollobrigida took gold in 6:46.17.
"This hurts incredibly much," Sandrine Tas responded after the race. "I achieved the time we had set our sights on. But to be so close to the podium and the Olympic title, three tenths of a second in a 12.5-lap race, is incredibly disappointing. If I can take some time to reflect, I'm sure I'll feel proud, but right now it hurts a lot."
Tas had opened her second Winter Olympics last Saturday with seventh place in the 3,000 metres. Four years ago in Beijing, she made her Olympic debut, finishing 28th in both the 500 and 1,000 metres and 29th in the 1,500 metres, and exiting in the semi-finals of the mass start. She still has two events to come in Milan, with the team pursuit scheduled for 14 to 17 February and the mass start on 21 February.
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS
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