Speed skater Fran Vanhoutte sprints to 500 m gold, calling it “a dream come true”
Having won bronze earlier in the day and silver on Tuesday, Belgium’s Fran Vanhoutte struck gold on Thursday at the World Games in China. The 22-year-old triumphed in the 500 m final with an impressive time of 44.231, finishing ahead of Taiwan’s Yi-Hsuan Liu (44.251) and Chile’s Catalina Lorca (44.372). World champion Maria Luisa Timms of Colombia (44.473) was never in contention for a medal. “It’s incredible that my dream has come true,” said Vanhoutte.
Vanhoutte's gold is Belgium’s 11th medal in Chengdu and their fifth gold. She will conclude her campaign on Friday in the 1,000 m. “This one is definitely the sweetest,” she said.
“My plan was to get off to the fastest start possible,” she explained. "If you’re third or fourth after the start, it’s much harder to catch up. I wanted to take the lead right away. The opening went well, and then I just had to control the race. In the last 100 metres, my legs were burning, but I kept pushing. The Taiwanese skater came close, but I held her off.”
Vanhoutte had already recorded the fastest times in both her heat (44.391) and semi-final (44.906), in addition to two earlier 200 m races. "Five races in one day is mentally tough," she admitted. "You have to stay sharp at the start of each race and focus only on the next one. I managed to finish the job. It's unbelievable."
Jorun Geerts placed ninth in the women’s 5 km points race, which was won by Colombia’s Gabriela Rueda. In the men’s events, Spain’s Jhoan Guzmán claimed his fourth title in three days – a feat reminiscent of Belgian Bart Swings’ dominant performance four years ago.
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO VIRGINIE LEFOUR
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