Olympics-Speed skating-Leerdam wins 1,000m gold in Dutch one-two with Kok at Milano Cortina

By Pearl Josephine Nazare

MILAN, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Jutta Leerdam stormed to 1,000m gold at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Monday, spearheading a Dutch sweep of the top two places ahead of Femke Kok as they opened the Netherlands' medal account at the Games.

Japan's most decorated female Olympian, Miho Takagi, took the bronze at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium.

Leerdam - the 2020 and 2023 world single-distance champion in the 1,000m - stopped the clock at an Olympic-record time of one minute 12.31 seconds, finishing 0.28 seconds clear of Kok to give the Netherlands their first gold medal of the Games.

Competing at her second Games and with fiance Jake Paul watching from the stands, the 27-year-old sprint specialist secured her second Olympic medal, adding to the 1,000m silver she won at Beijing 2022.

Drawn in the 15th and final pair, Leerdam skated in the outer lane alongside defending Olympic champion Takagi.

Four years ago in Beijing, Leerdam had to settle for silver behind Takagi after a mis-stroke in the final corner, but there was no repeat of that disappointment this time.

As she crossed the line and saw her Olympic-record time flash on the scoreboard, Leerdam burst into tears, overwhelmed with emotion.

"I couldn't believe it, but I was also so tired," Leerdam said. "It was hard to feel something. I couldn't really stand, I couldn't really see, I couldn't do anything.

"I knew that if during the race I would feel tired, I wasn't allowed to feel tired. I told myself, 'You have 80 years to recover from this, you can feel tired after. You don't want to live with that regret. You fought so hard for this'.

"When I saw that green (colour) next to my name, I thought, 'Oh my, this is a dream come true'. I really couldn't believe it and I still can't. That I peaked at the right moment is just insane. I am so, so happy."

Kok had appeared to be on course for gold after breaking the Olympic record while skating in the 13th pair with American Brittany Bowe, only for Leerdam to eclipse her time minutes later with a blistering pace.

"I'm really happy with the race, I skated one of my best 1000m ever," Kok said. "I can't complain. Jutta was just better, a lot of respect to her.

"I gave it my all. It's a little bummer that it wasn't quite enough for gold but Jutta was amazing.

"Racing here felt so good, the crowd was amazing. They were cheering so loud and that gave me a lot of energy throughout the race."

After missing the podium in two consecutive distances earlier in these Olympics, the Dutch stretched their record haul of Olympic speed skating gold medals to 49 - well clear of the United States (30) and Norway (29).

Bowe, competing in her final Games, posted the fourth-fastest time.

Still chasing an elusive Olympic gold, the 37-year-old Bowe will have another opportunity in the 1,500m and the team pursuit.

She owns two Olympic bronze medals - the team pursuit at Pyeongchang 2018 and the 1,000m at Beijing 2022 - and maintains that she has one piece of unfinished business left in her career.

Lamarche, a second-generation Olympian following her father, Benoit - who competed in speed skating at Sarajevo 1984 and Calgary 1988 - finished fifth‑fastest.