The first gold has been won for the Netherlands at the Olympic Games in Beijing. Hoogkarspel’s Irene Schouten lived up to the sky-high expectations in the 3,000 meters by setting the fastest time in the last stage. She finished after three minutes, 56 seconds and 93 hundredths in an Olympic record.
The silver went to the Italian Francesca Lollobrigida, Isabelle Weidemann from Canada took the bronze. Lollobrigida was defeated by Schouten in the last stage and crossed the finish line more than a second after the North Holland rider.
The two other Dutch women in the 3,000 meters were disappointing seventh and eighth. Carlijn Achtereekte drove 4.02.21 and Antoinette de Jong crossed the line with a time of 4.02.37.