Olympic Speed skating

American speedskater Shani Davis criticized Team USA's flag-bearer selection process in a tweet Thursday morning.  

After luger Erin Hamlin was chosen as the United States' representative for the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Davis wrote the following:

I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010 I became the first American to 2-peat in that event. @TeamUSA dishonorably tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer. No problem. I can wait until 2022. #BlackHistoryMonth2018 #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/dsmTtNkhJs

— Shani Davis (@ShaniDavis) February 8, 2018

According to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com), Hamlin and Davis were two of the eight candidates to carry the flag. A 4-4 deadlock in the voting led to a coin flip, which resulted in Hamlin winning the right to be flag-bearer.

The United States Olympic Committee made it known that voters were aware of a coin flip being the final tiebreaker if no majority decision could be reached.

"We feel strongly toward Shani and they felt strongly for Erin. That's just that." U.S. speedskater Joey Mantia said. 

After learning of her selection, Hamlin offered the following, per the AP (h/t ESPN.com): "The nerves will be flying for sure. I slide. That's what I do. Put me at the top of the track, that's my happy place. Walking out in front of a lot of people and even more watching from home, hoping to not trip over my own feet or drop the flag is going to be way more nerve-wracking."

Both Davis and Hamlin boast impressive Olympic resumes.

The 35-year-old Davis is now a five-time Olympian who has won two gold medals and two silver medals. At the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, he became the first African American athlete to win individual gold at the Winter Olympics.

Hamlin, 31, is set to enter her fourth and final Winter Games. She won bronze at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, making her the first American luger to ever medal at the Winter Olympics in singles competition.

The opening ceremony for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics will take place Friday.

A gold-medal effort in the women's team pursuit event Saturday—the final speedskating race at the Sochi Olympics—capped an absolutely dominating performance by Dutch skaters at the 2014 Winter Games.

Overall, Dutch skaters were awarded 23 of a total of 36 speedskating medals up for grabs at Sochi. In the process, the Netherlands completely shattered the previous record for speedskating medals by a country—which had been 13—set by East Germany at the 1988 Calgary Games.

Meanwhile, with a total of eight gold medals in the sport, the Netherlands topped the previous record of six in a single Olympic Games, set by the Soviet Union in 1960.

Along with a record haul of gold medals at Sochi, the Netherlands took seven silver medals in speedskating, as well as eight bronzes.

Ireen Wust, who earned gold in the women's team pursuit event, ended up with more medals than any other athlete at the Sochi Games, taking home two golds and three silvers.

The Netherlands' only other medal at Sochi—a bronze won by Sjinkie Knegt—came in short-track speedskating, in the men's 1,000-meter event. 

Speedskating at the 2014 Winter Olympics has come to a close, as both the men’s and women’s team pursuit events took place on Saturday in Sochi.

Both of these thrilling races featured skaters from the Netherlands vying for the gold medal and extending their collective dominance in this discipline. The Dutch men faced South Korea in the gold-medal final, while the women went up against Poland.

While it was close on both sides, the Dutch team of Jan Blokhuijsen, Sven Kramer and Koen Verweij were the best of the men’s competition and set an Olympic record with their time of 3 minutes, 37.71 seconds.

The Netherlands women also set an Olympic record and took home the gold. Marrit Leenstra, Jorier Ter Mors and Ireen Wust emerged atop the podium for the women with a time of 2:58.05.

Let’s take a look at the final scores for every participant, plus recap some of the best performances from both races and highlight what is to come now that this sport has reached its conclusion at the Winter Games.

Scores

Heat	Country	Result	Result	Rank	Final Rank
Men's
Women's
Final B	POL	Zbigniew Brodka, Konrad Niedzwiedzki, Jan Szymanski	3:41.94	1	3
Final B	CAN	Mathieu Giroux, Lucas Makowsky, Denny Morrison	3:44.27	2	4
Final A	NED	Jan Blokhuisen, Sven Kramer, Koen Verweij	3:37.71 (OR)	1	1
Final A	KOR	Hyong Jun Joo, Cheol Min Kim, Seung Hoon Lee	3:40.85	2	2
Final B	RUS	Olga Graf, Yekaterina Lobysheva, Yuliya Skokova	2:59.73	1	3
Final B	JPN	Misaki Oshigiri, Maki Tabata, Nana Takagi	3:02.57	2	4
Final A	NED	Marrit Leenstra, Jorien Ter Mors, Ireen Wust	2:58.05 (OR)	1	1
Final A	POL	Katarzyna Bachleda - Curus, Katarzyna Wozniak, Luiza Zlotkowska	3:05.55	2	2

Recap

As expected, the Netherlands skaters were not only dominant, but also downright special during the team pursuit event.

Willie Cornblatt of NBC Olympics noted that South Korea put up a fight in the men’s final, but ultimately fell to the transcendent Dutch, who capped their amazing Olympic run with a record-setting time in this event:

Poland was able to emerge with the bronze medal by defeating Canada in the B Finals, finishing over two seconds ahead of the fourth-place side.

The team of Zbigniew Brodka, Konrad Niedzwiedzki and Jan Szymanski never gave up and hit the podium with a valiant come-from-behind effort to top Mathieu Giroux, Lucas Makowsky and Denny Morrison.

Cornblatt tweeted out his astonishment after the pairing:

The women were also record-setting and had a lead of more than three seconds with five laps still to go, according to Cornblatt:

Wust, one of the premier skaters for the Dutch women, did not even need to skate in the final to become one of the most decorated athletes in Winter Olympic history.

As per Infostrada Sports, only nine other people have accomplished the feat of winning five medals in a single Winter Games:

Wust admitted that the pressure has been off her since she broke through and topped her first podium in Sochi, her third-straight Winter Olympics with at least one gold.

As per Kevin Kaduk of Yahoo Sports, she won the 3,000-meter on Sunday, Feb. 9, and told reporters: ''Seventeen million Dutch wanted me to win, now the extreme pressure is off and I can win more.''

She definitely won more, claiming silver in the 1,000-meter, 1,500-meter and 5,000-meter before earning Saturday’s gold medal.

Host Russia earned a piece of the podium for its sterling performance in the B Finals on the women’s side. Olga Graf, Yekaterina Lobysheva and Yuliya Skokova’s time of 2:59.73 was top-notch and put them across the finish line nearly three seconds faster than fourth-place Japan.

 

What’s Next

Speedskating at the 2014 Winter Olympics was absolutely owned by the Dutch, as their contingent took home a ridiculous 23 medals, including eight golds.

Infostrada Sports found that this is the most golds won by one country in one sport during one Olympic Games:

It was an unprecedented run of dominance, a large reason why the Netherlands is still in the running to claim the most medals at Sochi with just over one day left of Olympic action.

Here’s a look at the latest medal standings courtesy of Bleacher Report:

Many of these elite speedskaters will now start training for the upcoming World Cup and World Championships, which represent the highest honors in this sport until the Winter Olympics come to South Korea in 2018.

The World Cup starts back up in Inzell, Germany, on March 14 and runs through March 16. This is the fifth stop on the tour, which ends with the World Championships for both the men and women in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

That season-ending competition will begin on March 21 and conclude on March 23. Expect to see many of the familiar faces from Sochi, especially on the Dutch side, competing in these epic events and attempting to add more hardware to their already-impressive trophy cases.

The men's and women's speedskating team pursuit events at the 2014 Winter Olympics will be decided on Saturday in Sochi.

While the podium winners are yet to be determined, one thing is for sure—the United States won't be bringing home any hardware. So far the Netherlands has completely dominated speedskating and they look like they'll be tough to catch on Saturday as well.

After both the men's and women's teams were knocked out of their respective competitions on Friday, the medal drought for U.S. speedskating was made official. It's a massive disappointment for a group that featured stars like Shani Davis, Heather Richardson and Brittany Bowe.

But that hasn't stopped Team USA from jumping to the top of the total medal count with 27 through 14 days of action.

Here's a look at the remaining fields and schedules for both competitions with viewing information and predictions. While the events won't be broadcast live on American TV, you can still watch live online at NBC Live Extra and see coverage on NBC Prime time (8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT) on Saturday night. For complete information visit Sochi 2014.com. 

Men's Team Pursuit

Heat	Country	Time
A	Netherlands	3:40.79
A	Korea	3:42.32
B	Canada	3:45.28
B	Poland	3:52.08
C	Norway	3:43.19
C	Russia	3:44.22
D	United States	3:46.82
D	France	3:53.17

Finals: 8:51 a.m. ET

Live Stream: NBC Live Extra

TV Coverage: NBC Prime time (8 p.m. / 7 p.m. CT)

The Dutch have been a dominant force in Sochi on the long-track, claiming 12 of a possible 15 medals, including four first-place finishes.

The trio of Jan Blokhuijsen, Sven Kramer and Koen Verweij have been building up to this moment in the Olympic team pursuit event for quite a while now, as detailed by Raf Casert of the Associated Press.

The Dutch meanwhile, have been dedicated to the team pursuit since the summer, with lots of practice. It showed. They twice routed opposition, first France, then Poland, to get to their first final in the event since it was introduced in 2006.

Sven Kramer, Jan Blokhuijsen and Koen Verweij coasted past France by 8.70 seconds in the quarterfinals, then went even faster in the semifinals. Nearly catching Poland and just missing an Olympic record, the Dutch won by a staggering 11.30 after eight loops around the oval.

They will face South Korea in Saturday's final. Unless the Dutch make a silly mistake — which has happened before — it seems no one can deny them gold.

The Netherlands entered this event as the overwhelming favorite and hasn't disappointed. The gold for the trio is a formality at this point but after posting a time of 3 minutes, 40.79 seconds in the semifinals, it will be interesting to see if they can approach their own world record of 3:35.60 set in November at a World Cup event.

"We have nothing yet," Kramer told Casert after reaching the final.

According to Google translate, Verweij tweeted, "Focus is high! We are ready. Tomorrow's final against Korea" in his native language following Friday's races.

That leaves Korea as the expected silver medalist, which is no bad accomplishment in this event, while Canada finished nearly seven seconds ahead of Poland in the semifinals and should coast to the bronze.

Gold: Netherlands

Silver: Korea

Bronze: Canada

Women's Team Pursuit

Heat	Country	Time
Semifinals 1	Russia	3:01.53
Semifinals 1	Poland	3:02.12
Semifinals 2	Netherlands	2:58.61
Semifinals 2	Japan	3:03.99
Final C	Canada	3:02.05
Final C	United States	3:02.21
Final D	Norway	3:05.13
Final D	Korea	3:05.28

Semifinals: 8:30 a.m. ET

Finals: 9:14 a.m. ET

Live Stream: NBC Live Extra

TV Coverage: NBC Prime time (8 p.m. / 7 p.m. CT)

Likewise, the Dutch women enter Saturday as the runaway favorites to win a gold medal. In five women's singles competitions, the Netherlands claimed nine medals, including two golds.

While those numbers aren't as dominant as their male counterparts, the Dutch women have still been very impressive around the oval since the start of the Winter Games.

Casert noted that another gold would be a nice exclamation mark for Ireen Wust, who is having an extraordinary Olympics for the Netherlands so far.

Wust could become the undisputed star of the Adler Arena if she wins her fifth medal of the games and her second gold to go with three silvers. She has been in the top two of every race but the 500 meters. "We are confident," she said. So she should be. She teams up with 1,500 champion Jorien ter Mors and Lotte van Beek who won bronze in the 1,500.

In the quarterfinals, the trio of Wust, ter Mors and van Beek set an Olympic record with a time of 2:58.61. They are set to face Japan in the semifinals, but the Japanese don't stand to have much of a chance and should be headed to the bronze-medal race.

As for the other semifinal matchup, Russia and Poland enter as close competitors but I think the host country will skate fast under pressure and join the Dutch in the finals, where the Russians should end up with a silver.

That leaves Japan and Poland to duke it out for the bronze. Judging by its near two-second advantage over Japan in the quarterfinals, Poland looks poised to cap off the speedskating competition with a third-place finish on the podium.

Gold: Netherlands

Silver: Russia

Bronze: Poland

The best thing you can say about the U.S. long-track speedskating experience in Sochi is that it's finally over.

On Friday, with hopes of individual glory already long behind them, the men's and women's teams, led by Shani Davis and Heather Richardson, tried to qualify for the semifinals in the team-pursuit relays. But once again, they were denied. Both teams were crushed in their quarterfinal heats—the men by Canada and the women by the Netherlands. 

Now it's official: The United States will leave the 2014 Games without a single long-track speedskating medal. 

That is not how things were supposed to go. These Olympics were supposed to be remembered for the coronation of Davis as one of the best speedskaters ever, the breakout stardom of Richardson and perhaps a moment of glory from Brian Hansen or Brittany Bowe along the way.

Instead, it will be remembered as an unmitigated disaster.

It all started with the suits. Whispers of a catastrophe began right away in Sochi, when the U.S. unveiled their much-hyped, high-tech Under Armour suits. They hadn't been tested in any prior competitions, which seemed a suspect strategy at best.

There was a hole in the back of the suits that was supposed to allow the heat to escape, but many speculated that it allowed air into the suits and therefore slowed down the skaters. As discouraging results began to pile up for the U.S. speedskating team, some blamed the suits, while other athletes like Davis tried to take full responsibility:

But midway through the Games, the Americans flew in their old suits that brought them success on the World Cup circuit. Unfortunately, the disappointing results continued, and the blame game shifted. Insiders, speaking with Gary D'Amato of the Journal Sentinel, wondered whether it had been appropriate for the team to train in high-altitude regions as opposed to sea-level conditions more similar to those in Sochi.

Fingers pointed directly at the administration, particularly at the damage done by the former executive director of U.S. Speedskating Mark Greenwald. His errors in leadership have primarily been associated with the disarray of American short-track speedskating, but that's likely because the long-track athletes were having enough success on the World Cup circuit over past four years to mask the chaos.

After finishing in an embarrassing last place in her 5,000-meter race, veteran Maria Lamb called out Greenwald and current high-performance director Finn Halvorsen. She spoke to reporters, including the Star Tribune, about her frustrations: 

I think over the last several years most of us have managed to perform incredibly well in spite of a lot of the organization rather than because of it. That adds up over the years, and unfortunately it came to a head here. This is my third Games and there is so much more nonsense in general going on.

Whatever the exact reason, the distractions have taken a toll on the skaters.

Richardson, 24, won the World Sprint Championships last year and was considered the favorite in the 1,000 meters and a medal hopeful in the 500 meters. Sochi was supposed to launch her into superstardom.

Instead, she finished in seventh place in the 1,000 and 1,500 and in eighth place in the 500 meters.  

The biggest disappointment, however, was Davis. The 31-year-old came into these Games as the star of the speedskating team for the first time in his career and as the favorite to win a historic third straight gold in the 1,000 meters. Instead, he got wrapped up in the negativity surrounding the team and didn't even have a top-five finish.

In an honest and revealing press conference, he opened up about the letdown:

I wanted to be a speed skater that Americans knew, loved, followed and cheered for. And I worked hard to get that in 2006, it didn't quite go my way. In 2010 I didn't have anyone working for me in that corner that would pull those people in my corner.

Now in 2014, I had the whole country behind me,' he said. 'I had all kinds of really cool sponsors and people following me. I had everything going into it but I come away with nothing to show them and give back to them to say thank you for believing in my and following me. I'm really disappointed not only for myself, that I couldn't meet my expectations, but for the people that have been tuning in and watching. That's very disappointing that I couldn't do more for them.

There is no telling where U.S. speedskating will go from here, but it's certain that a complete overhaul of the program is needed. Unfortunately for Davis and other veterans, it might be too late.

When the Games began, the United States had 67 Olympic long-track medals. As the Americans leave Sochi, that number will remain the same. Instead, there are a lot more questions surrounding the organization and the athletes than ever before. 

People talk about successes, and they also talk about colossal failures. This was the latter.

There is no doubt that the stink of the Sochi Games will remain with the U.S. speedskating team for some time.

Long-track speedskating action heated up at the Adler Arena Skating Center during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia on Friday as the best men's and women's teams in the world vied for medal opportunities.

The men's team pursuit quarterfinals and semifinals were held, as were the women's quarterfinals. As has become the norm in Sochi, all three rounds of competition were essentially a showcase for the Netherlands' speedskating dominance.

Although the Netherlands' individual success already was established, it proved that it can thrive as a team as well. The team pursuit featured a series of three-on-three races, and the Dutch were essentially perfect.

The same can't be said for the United States, as its nightmarish speedskating record got even worse on Friday. Big things were expected out of a number of American speedskaters in Sochi, but Team USA couldn't break out of its funk.

Along with a breakdown of the major happenings in each of Friday's team pursuit rounds, here are the full results. 

Men's Quarterfinals

Heat	Country	Time	Advanced to
1	Canada	3:43.30	Semifinal 1
1	USA	3:46.82	Final D
2	South Korea	3:40.84	Semifinal 1
2	Russia	3:44.22	Final C
3	Poland	3:42.78	Semifinal 2
3	Norway	3:43.19	Final C
4	Netherlands	3:44.48	Semifinal 2
4	France	3:53.17	Final D

The men's quarterfinals were essentially a microcosm of long-track speedskating as a whole at these Olympics. As expected, the Netherlands was dominant again as the team of Jan Blokhuijsen, Sven Kramer and Koen Verweij blew out an overmatched French team by nearly nine seconds.

Since all three members of the Dutch team have medaled in Sochi, their showing wasn't particularly surprising.

The Netherlands entered the day with 22 medals at the 2014 Winter Games, and 21 of them came by way of long-track speedskating. Based on how the Dutch looked in the quarters, a 22nd medal is almost certainly on the horizon.

The biggest speedskating storyline in Sochi aside from the Netherlands' monopoly on the podium has been Team USA's struggles.

The Americans had no speedskating medals entering the day, but the trio of Shani Davis, Brian Hansen and Jonathan Kuck had a chance to salvage something. Their issues continued, though, and they were beaten by Canada by three-and-a-half seconds.

Davis was considered the favorite to win the 1,000- and 1,500-meter races but he didn't medal in either.

Losing in the quarters of the team pursuit was the cherry atop Davis' sundae of mediocrity. After the disappointing showing, he was understandably upset, according to Amy Donaldson of the Deseret News:

The United States will be entered into the D Final, although its medal opportunity went by the wayside. A distraught Davis didn't seem particularly interested in competing in what amounts to an exhibition, per Donaldson.

Additionally, South Korea beat out host Russia, while Poland edged Norway, which set up an extremely interesting pair of semifinal races.

Women's Quarterfinals

Heat	Country	Time	Advanced to
1	Russia	3:01.53	Semifinal 1
1	Canada	3:02.06	Final C
2	Poland	3:02.12	Semifinal 1
2	Norway	3:05.13	Final D
3	Japan	3:03.99	Semifinal 2
3	South Korea	3:05.28	Final D
4	Netherlands	2:58.61	Semifinal 2
4	USA	3:02.21	Final C

In many ways, the women's quarterfinals played out much like the men's side. The Netherlands was heavily favored to come out on top, and it didn't disappoint.

Like the men's team, the Dutch women's team featured three Sochi medalists. Jorien Ter Mors, Lotte Van Beek and quad medalist Ireen Wust entered the quarters with all eyes on them.

With that said, they faced a tough test against Team USA. The Americans were saddled with the most difficult possible draw, so the chips were stacked against them in terms of snapping the United States' speedskating medal drought.

If any team could have potentially shocked the Netherlands, though, it was the triumvirate of Heather Richardson, Brittany Bowe and Jilleanne Rookard. The Americans performed quite well and would have beaten Japan in the third semifinal, but it wasn't enough against the Dutch.

The Netherlands made things look easy as they effortlessly set a new Olympic record with a time of two minutes and 58.61 seconds. With that loss, it ensured the United States would leave Sochi without a single long-track medal, according to Willie Cornblatt of NBCOlympics.com:

It marked the first time since the 1984 Olympics the United States was shut out in speedskating, and it was just the third time in Olympic history, per Nick Zaccardi of NBC Olympic Talk:

While most of the focus was on that race, the Russian fans were thrilled their team of skaters advanced to Saturday's semis as well. Russia will take on Poland and, in all likelihood, the winner of that race will earn a shot at knocking off the seemingly invincible Netherlands for gold.

Men's Semifinals

Heat	Country	Time	Advanced to
1	South Korea	3:42.33	Final A
1	Canada	3:45.28	Final B
2	Netherlands	3:40.79	Final A
2	Poland	3:52.08	Final B

Any concerns regarding the Netherlands' ability to maintain its high level of skating in the semis were quickly erased. The Dutch took on an upstart Polish team that hoped to shock the world, but it was ultimately more of the same. Poland was clearly the weakest trio to make the semifinals, and it was no match for the Netherlands.

The Dutch improved upon their strong quarterfinal showing by nearly four seconds, and they sent out a warning shot heading into the finals.

The Netherlands was so good it would have lapped Poland had the race lasted a bit longer, but it settled for a margin of victory of 12 seconds, according to Cornblatt:

In the other semifinal, the defending Olympic gold medalist Canadians faced off against South Korea. Canada had plenty of momentum coming off its win over the rival United States in the quarters, and it opened a sizable early lead. Korea showed a great deal of stamina, however, and was able to mount a huge comeback to advance to the finals.

With that loss, Korea assured itself of at least a silver medal, while Canada will take on Poland for bronze, per Sonali Karnick of CBC:

Canada will be favored in that race, but falling short of the final is certainly a disappointment. Defeating the Netherlands would have been a nearly impossible task, but crazy things have been known to happen in speedskating.

Korea should pose a solid challenge to the Dutch on Saturday, although there isn't a team in the world that can beat the Netherlands right now when it is running on all cylinders.

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Despite the United States speedskating team reverting to its old uniforms after a report showed the new suits designed by Under Armour—purported to be the fastest in the world—were slowing down the Americans, the team has renewed its partnership with Under Armour for the next eight years.

From The Wall Street Journal on Twitter:

The United States speedskating team really struggled in these Games, and doubts began to creep in that it was an issue with the new Mach 39 suit that was causing the problems, forcing many American speedskaters to revert back to an older Under Armour suit.

Under Armour defended the new design but relented when the team voted to make the switch. Matt Townsend and Rob Gloster of Bloomberg.com wrote more on the switch last week:

The team voted to revert to the suit worn during the Olympic trials and World Championships from the Mach 39, which the Baltimore-based apparel maker had described as the fastest suit in the world.

The switch came after a report that the new uniforms were slowing American speedskaters at the Olympics.

“It’s more important to support the athletes and their ability to step on the ice confident that they are in a position to win a medal,” Kevin Haley, Under Armour’s senior vice president for innovation, said in an interview [on February 14]. “We want them to be in the best position to win.”

The issue was reportedly with the suits’ rear ventilation panels, though no issues were ever uncovered in testing, which included monitoring their performance in wind tunnels. Still, that the U.S. athletes displayed such a lack of confidence in the suit made the switch important if for no other reason than to ease their minds. 

Even after the switch, however, the U.S. speedskaters continued to struggle, and no American has medaled in either a long- or short-track event, leading many to believe "Uniformgate" was perhaps a bit overblown.

Compare that to the Vancouver Games, when the United States won a combined 10 medals in short- and long-track speedskating, including Shani Davis earning gold in the 1,000-meter and silver in the 1,500-meter race, duplicating his results from the 2006 Games.

At these Olympics, however, his best individual result was eighth in the 1,000-meter race.

Certainly, Under Armour will take a long, hard look at the Mach 39 design, and four years from now there should be no issues (or perceived issues). The American speedskaters were a major disappointment in Sochi, but after these Games, you can bet Under Armour will ensure the suits for 2018 won't cause any controversy.

If nothing else, Under Armour and the United States speedskating team may try to direct attention away from the suits before the Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

In speedskating at the 2014 Winter Olympics, the competitors from the Netherlands have hogged the medals with the rest of the world trailing far behind. The sport wraps up at the Sochi Games with the men's and ladies' team pursuits, so at least the Dutch are done dominating on an individual basis.

We look ahead to the remaining speedskating events and preview the action in team pursuit on Friday ahead of Saturday's finals. 

When: Friday, Feb. 21; men's team pursuit quarterfinal at 8:30 a.m. ET, semifinal 10:13 a.m.; ladies' team pursuit quarterfinal at 9:23 a.m. (all times ET)

Where: Adler Arena Skating Center, Sochi, Russia

Watch: Men's team on NBC Primetime, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.; women's team on NBC Latenight 12:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. (on Feb. 22)

Stream: NBCOlympics.com and the Live Extra app

Dutch skaters have claimed 21 out of a possible 30 speedskating medals so far, earning six gold, seven silver and eight bronze. No other country has more than two.

The Netherlands swept the medal stand in the men's 500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters and the ladies' 1,500 meters. The nation has won a single medal outside of regular speedskating, and that was a bronze in short-track.

Male skaters Jorrit Bergsma and Michel Mulder each collected a gold and a bronze medal. Mulder's identical twin brother Ronald even won bronze in the event Michel won gold. Female skater Ireen Wust claimed a gold and three silver.

Here's the lesson: Don't bet against the Netherlands.

Oddschecker.com lists the men's team at 1-12 odds for the gold. The United States is a favorite for silver as a 6-1 shot, and South Korea is running as the third horse at 14-1. Norway, Canada, Poland and Russia are also in the mix but are not considered to be top-three teams.

On the ladies' side, the Netherlands remains favored for gold but not by such a wide margin at 1-5 odds. Canada trails with 4-1, Poland is a 9-1 shot and the Germans have an outside chance at 16-1.

The medal outcome on Saturday is far from a lock, and everyone will be looking to spoil the Netherlands' party. Zbigniew Brodka is a skater to watch after taking gold in the men's 500 meters for Poland, the only individual gold the Dutch men did not claim. 

Canada's Denny Morrison already has a silver in the men's 1,000 and a bronze in the 1,500 meters at Sochi. Canada won gold in the men's team pursuit at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, and it is considered Morrison's best event. Morrison has turned in a stunningly successful games so far, and he could be poised for more greatness in Sochi yet.

As noted by Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star, his success so far has been a shocker: "Two medals for Canada in the Adler Arena, in arguably the most classic core sport of the Winter Olympics, and Morrison has both of them in a Games where he had not been expected to contend for the podium in an individual event."

Morrison hasn't just shocked his countrymen and his teammates, but he's irked his competitors too. Russian speedskater Denis Yuskov seemed a little exasperated after finishing fourth behind Morrison's bronze in the men's 1,500 meters: "I have no idea what he has been doing before. I've never seen him get a medal, and now he has two."

However, the United States could wash away the bitter taste from speedskating in Sochi by medaling again in team pursuit. 

The men won silver in 2010, and another team medal in 2014 would help the nation forget about the agita over the new possibly slower uniforms. U.S. speedskaters won four medals in 2010 but none so far in Sochi.

Regardless of the medal result in team pursuit, it's already been a wildly successful Olympics for the Dutch at Adler Arena Skating Center. Since this is team pursuit, the Netherlands will be limited to no more than one medal per event.

So far, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi have been marked by massive disappointment for the United States speedskating team. Just take a look at the medal count and you'll know why.

All 10 individual speedskating events have already taken place during these Winter Games, and the Americans are still waiting to make their first appearance on the podium despite a crop of talented athletes led by Shani Davis, Heather Richardson and Brittany Bowe.

While the U.S. men's side has a good chance at finding some redemption with a medal during the upcoming team pursuit event, the women look like a long shot to do any real damage in their competition.

Either way, both events feature some of the most entertaining races during the Winter Games, as teams of three skaters start on opposite sides of the rink and race for the fastest time, with men making eight laps and women making six.

While no races will be broadcast live on American TV, all of them can be seen live online at NBC Live Extra and will be featured during NBC's prime-time coverage at 8 p.m./7 p.m. CT on Friday and Saturday.

Here's the schedule for both events and a closer look at the prospects for the men and women athletes competing for the United States.

Men's Team Pursuit

Event	Date	Time (ET)
Quarterfinals	Fri., Feb. 21	8:30 a.m.
Semifinals	Fri., Feb. 21	10:13 a.m.
Finals	Sat., Feb. 22	8:51 a.m.

After the Netherlands ripped through the five men's competitions by winning 12 of 15 medals and four of five golds, the men's team pursuit event has essentially been reduced to a race for second place. With their expected trio of Koen Verweij, Sven Kramer and Jan Blokhuijsen, the Dutch are expected to runaway with the gold.

But the United States has as good a chance as any. The men's team pursuit event has been featured at three of four ISU Grand Prix events this season, and the United States has been anchored by combinations of Davis, Brian Hansen, Jonathan Kuck and Joey Mantia en route to a pair of second-place finishes and a disappointing ninth in Berlin in December.

Davis, a Chicago native, also noted that this team has some Illinois flavor.

It seems that no one has taken the Americans disappointment in speedskating tougher than Davis, especially from comments he recently made to Wayne Coffey of the New York Daily News after finishing 11th in the 1,500-meter event.

“We have no medals, man,” he told Coffey. “We have none, and the way things are looking, we might not get any. It’s sad because we’ve had a lot of potential, a lot of talent. It’s terrible; big, big, big disappointment.” 

Aside from the Americans, the other top competition figures to be a Korean team that has also been a regular on the podium during the World Cup circuit this season.

Women's Team Pursuit

Event	Date	Time (ET)
Quarterfinals	Fri. Feb. 21	9:23 a.m.
Semifinals	Sat., Feb. 22	8:30 a.m.
Finals	Sat., Feb. 22	9:14 a.m.

Like Davis, Richardson has also been hard on herself during these disappointing Winter Games.

Jeff Mills of the Greensboro News and Record gave some perspective on Richardson's unmet expectations in Sochi:

The 24-year-old from High Point came to Russia as the gold-medal favorite in the 1,000 meters, a medal favorite in the 500 and a medal contender in the 1,500.

She will leave with no individual medals. Richardson placed eighth in the 500. She finished seventh in the 1,000. And she was seventh in the 1,500 on a Dutch-dominated Sunday on the coast of the Black Sea.

“I went home (to the Olympic Village) and cried forever about the 1,000,” Richardson said. “But I have to let it go at some point and focus on the rest of my races. That’s what I tried to do.”

At least Richardson has been able to enjoy the gold-medal success of her fiance, Dutch speedskater Jorrit Bergsma, who won the 10,000-meter event on Tuesday.

According to Oddschecker.com, though, the Americans are the biggest underdog of the women's team pursuit event.

Richardson has teamed up with friend and rival Brittany Bowe and 2010 team pursuit fourth-place finisher Jilleanne Rookard on the World Cup circuit. The team's best performance was a third-place finish in Salt Lake City in November; otherwise, the trio has finished sixth and eighth.

Given their slow times so far in Sochi, it's hard to see the American women advancing past the quarterfinals on Friday, but at least Richardson and Bowe will get to race side-by-side on the Olympic stage.

The men's team pursuit event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi will feature eight teams competing in a knockout-style, two-day tournament for the gold medal, though the competition in this one may very well be for the silver and bronze medals.

The Netherlands have absolutely dominated in speedskating events in Sochi. They've already racked up 19 long-track medals (20 medals if you count the short-track bronze) in speedskating (an Olympic record) and are far from done. Without question, the Dutch are the team to beat entering the competition.

Needless to say, the competition for each spot on the podium will be fierce.

Here's what to watch for in the event, including a schedule of when each round of the tournament will take place.

Event	Date	Time (ET)
Quarterfinals	Fri., Feb. 21	8:30 a.m.
Semifinals	Fri., Feb. 21	10:13 a.m.
Finals	Sat., Feb. 22	8:51 a.m.

The Dominance of the Netherlands

The Dutch have swept the podium four times in Sochi. They've competed in nine speedskating events. Another sweep would mean that the Netherlands had three speedskaters on the podium in 50 percent of the events.

That's simply ludicrous.

Gary D'Amato of the Journal Sentinel breaks their dominance down even further:

Thirteen skaters from the Netherlands have medaled, led by Ireen Wust with gold in the women's 3,000 meters and silver in the 1,000 and 1,500. The Dutch also have set three Olympic records: Sven Kramer in the 5K, Jorrit Bergsma in the 10K and Jorien ter Mors in the women's 1,500.

Kramer will be joined by Koen Verweij and Jan Blokhuijsen in the team pursuit, and they'll be looking to bring another medal to the nation. If it's any consolation to the rest of the competition, the Dutch cannot win all three medals in this event.

I mean, it is a team competition.

Look for the Dutch to continue their unbelievable dominance in this discipline.

Can the United States Stop the Disappointment?

While no team has been able to come anywhere close to the success of the Dutch, the United States have been particularly disappointing.

The team, led by Shani Davis, was favored to bring home several medals in this installment of the Winter Games. Instead, they've missed their chances several times.

After finishing 11th in his most recent event, Davis tried his best to explain the poor performance, via Wayne Coffey of the New York Daily News: 

“There were too many factors going on. The energy was really bad. I try not to make excuses for my performance, but if we could have eliminated all those distractions and I could have put that energy into performing and skating, it would have been a totally different outcome.”

Davis will lead a U.S. team that will also feature Brian Hansen and Jonathan Kuck. Earning a medal in this event will help make up for their disappointing finishes in earlier races.

Will South Korea Compete for a Podium spot?

The team of Cheol-Min Kim, Kyou-Hyuk Lee and Hyong-Joon Joo has been competing well in the first three races of the ISU Speed Skating World Cup. The event takes place over four races in different locations, and South Korea has earned two bronzes and a silver thus far.

The Netherlands earned gold all three times, whereas the United States took silver twice and failed to medal in the third race. Instead, Poland took the bronze.

Korea isn't on the level of the U.S. or Netherlands, but their consistency in 2013-14 is difficult to ignore. Their most recent performance finished with a silver medal, and there's a good chance they earn the same medal in this event.

If South Korea can maintain its consistency, then it'll be stiff competition for the rest of the field.

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