MILAN, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Jorrit Bergsma and Marijke Groenewoud claimed the men's and women's mass start golds here on Saturday as Dutch speed skaters wrapped up their journey at the Milan-Cortina Games on a high note.
Bergsma, 40, powered to the men's victory for his second Olympic gold, following his triumph in the 10,000m at the 2014 Sochi Games.
Pulling away together with Viktor Hald Thorup of Denmark after just about a quarter of the way, Bergsma finished over five seconds in front of the Dane, who settled for silver.
"That was crazy, mind-blowing," said Bergsma afterwards. "Everybody was expecting Jordan Stolz, Andrea Giovannini, and Bart Swings. I was expecting a really hard final, but nobody wanted to do the first attack. I did it. I had a gap together with Viktor Hald Thorup and that was it."
"We had a gap in no time, and then I knew, 'OK, I have a big, big chance right now'. I just wanted to keep the gap with the peloton and keep the speed in it a bit. I had to keep my cool and finish it," he added.
Bergsma, who had claimed the bronze in the 10,000m in Milan, was pleased with the surprise win.
"I had already won bronze, so my Olympic Games was already complete, but to be standing here with a gold medal as a 40-year-old guy is a privilege, even more so that I managed to do it in the mass start. I did not expect this at all," he said.
Italy's Giovannini came third, edging American Stolz to fourth place.
In the women's race, Groenewoud suddenly broke out from the crowd during the final lap to land her first Olympic gold after missing the podium in the 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m.
"My Games wasn't that good, so this is a perfect end for sure," she said. "This was the perfect day for our team, also with the win of Jorrit. It couldn't get better."
Canada's Ivanie Blondin and Mia Manganello of the United States finished second and third respectively, while home skater Francesca Lollobrigida, double gold medal winner in the women's 3,000m and 5,000m at these Games, came in fourth place. China's Yang Binyu finished seventh.
After the conclusion of the speed skating competitions, the Netherlands topped the medal standings with five golds, six silvers and two bronzes, followed by Italy with three golds and the United States with two. China, Norway, Canada and the Czech Republic claimed one gold each.
