The Netherlands is now two for two in Speed Skating Finals after Irene Wust's triump in the Ladies' 3000 meter event. Skating in the penultimate pairing, Wust put together an impressive performance to finish in a final time of 4:00.34. Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic finished 2nd with a time of 4:01.95 and 1.61 behind Wust. Russia's Olga Graf had to sweat out the final four pairings, but her time of 4:03.47 was enough to give her 3rd place and Russia their 1st medal of these 2014 Winter Olympics.
The victory in the 3000 meter event gave Wust a Gold Medal in her 3rd straight Olympics. She won the 1500 meter event at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada and captured the 3000 meter event in the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. The Netherlands has tallied 90 medals in their history at the Winter Olympics. Of those 90 medals, 86 have come in Speed Skating.
Martina Sablikova settled for 2nd after winning the 3000 meter Ladies' event at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The surprise of the race came from 3rd place finisher Olga Graf. She skated a personal best of 4:03.47 to give her the Bronze. Fellow Russians Yuliya Skokova and Yekaterina Shikhova finished 8th and 20th, respectively.
It was another disappointing day for the United States on the long track as they failed to finisher higher than 10th. Jilleanne Rookard went in the 10th pairing with Olga Graf and labored home in 4:10.02 and finished 10th overall, 9.68 seconds behind Wust. USA's other skater was Anna Ringsred, who finished 26th of 28, completed her race in 4:21.15.