The speed skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics ended the way it began; with the Netherlands cruising to victories in both the Men's and Ladies' Team Pursuit Finals. The Men's team had a little tougher time in their final against South Korea, but the endurance was too much for the Koreans. Jan Blokhuijsen, Sven Kramer, and Koen Verweij finished with a new olympic record of 3:37.71. South Korea finished in 3:40.85. In Final B, Poland came from behind to beat Canada and claim the Bronze medal. Norway, Russia, United States, and France finished 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th, respectively.
Sven Kramer finished with two gold medals for the Team Pursuit and Men's 5000 meters, while also getting a sliver medal for the Men's 10000 meters. Both Koen Verweij and Jan Blokhuijsen finished with a gold and silver medal apiece at these Olympics.
In the Ladies' Final, the Dutch skaters broke the Olympic Record three times. They did so in the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and the finals itself. Marrit Leenstra, Jorien Ter Mors, and Ireen Wust skated the final in 2:58.05 while defeating Poland by 7.50 seconds. The race was literally over after the first half lap when the Dutch Ladies' led by 1.64 seconds at the first interval and then led by 2.93 seconds after one full circuit around the track. Russia methodically came from behind against Japan to get the Bronze medal. Canada, United States, Norway, and South Korea rounded out the eight competing teams.
For Ireen Wust, she walks away from the Olympics with five medals; two gold and three silver. She won gold in the Team Pursuit and Ladies' 3000 meters and won silver in the Ladies' 1000 meters, 1500 meters, and 5000 meters. Lotte Van Beek picked up a gold in addition to her Bronze medal in the Ladies' 1500 meters. Jorien Ter Mors previously won the Ladies' 1500 meters final while this was Leenstra's only medal of the Olympic Games.
The Netherlands won 23 of the 36 medals available in Speed Skating. It is the single most medals won by a single country in a single discipline in Winter Olympic history.
For the United States, the team pursuits marked the end of the worst Olympics in speed skating in 30 years. The US will walk away with a single medal for the first time since 1984. No skater finished better than 7th in any individual event.