MILAN, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Czech teenager Metodej Jilek produced the race of his life to beat a powerful field and seize 10,000 metres gold on Friday, delivering the Czech Republic their first speed skating title of these Winter Olympics.
Jilek was joined on the podium by Poland's Vladimir Semirunniy, who claimed silver, while Dutchman Jorrit Bergsma took bronze.
Nineteen-year-old Jilek, who won bronze in the 10,000m at the 2025 ISU World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships, clocked 12 minutes 33.43 seconds to finish 5.65 seconds clear of Semirunniy, underlining his emergence as one of the sport's most exciting prospects.
"I feel incredible," Jilek said. "This gold medal represents all the training I've been doing for years - everything I've been working towards. It's amazing.
"I knew even before I came to the Olympics that I could do really well in the 10,000m, that I could win it. It was just a matter of doing the lap times.
"I've done thousands of these lap times throughout the summer so I knew what it feels like, what I have to do. It was just about dialling it in."
His victory made him the Czech Republic's second Olympic champion of these Games, following Zuzana Maderova's triumph in the women's parallel giant slalom on Sunday.
It also marked the nation's second speed skating medal in Milano Cortina, after Jilek claimed silver in the 5,000m on Sunday.
Competing in his first Olympics, Jilek faced a stacked field that included newly crowned 5,000m Olympic champion Sander Eitrem, France's Timothy Loubineaud, Semirunniy, and 10,000m world record holder Davide Ghiotto of Italy - all considered strong contenders after standout World Cup campaigns.
"Honestly, I wasn't even that nervous before the race," Jilek added.
"The only thing I was a bit nervous about is that I woke up a bit sick - I didn't feel that good. I didn't know how my body would react.
"Other than that, I knew I could do it. I was pretty confident."
Drawn in the penultimate pair of the six-pair programme, Jilek started in the inner lane alongside 2018 Pyeongchang 10,000 champion Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada and quickly settled into a smooth, controlled rhythm.
He never looked in doubt and ultimately lapped Bloemen, who is two decades his senior.
Jilek had been forced to settle for silver behind Eitrem in the 5,000m, but there was no repeat of that heartbreak on Friday.
Russian-born long-distance specialist Semirunniy was congratulated by Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
"'Poland welcomed me like its own child,' said Vladimir Semirunniy recently, who won a silver Olympic medal for his new homeland today. A beautiful story. Bravo Wladek!" Tusk posted on social media platform X.
TIMELESS BERGSMA
Bergsma - the 10,000m champion at Sochi 2014, silver medallist at Pyeongchang 2018, and 5,000m bronze medallist in Sochi - turned back the clock with a performance full of his trademark composure and metronomic pacing.
The arena, awash in orange as Dutch fans filled the stands once again, roared the 40-year-old on with every lap as he battled alongside Ghiotto in the fourth pair.
Meanwhile, Loubineaud stayed patient as Eitrem set the early pace in the final pair, conserving energy before mounting a late surge. The Frenchman's strong finish earned him fourth place once again, while Eitrem faded and ultimately slipped to seventh.
Italy's Riccardo Lorello, the Milan-born skater who grew up minutes from the venue, missed the podium but impressed once more. The 23-year-old Olympic debutant posted the eighth-fastest time, backing up the bronze he claimed in the 5,000m.
Starting from the inner lane in the first pair, Lorello was greeted by a warm reception as Italian flags waved across the arena. Paired with Denmark's Viktor Hald Thorup - a late replacement after American Casey Dawson withdrew - Lorello pulled clear early and skated alone for most of the race.
Thorup was unable to keep pace and later recorded a DNF due to cramping.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Milan; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Christian Radnedge)
