Kramer stays on road to redemption as he leads the Dutch to semis

Dutch men through to pursuit semis

RICHMOND, British Columbia — Sven Kramer led the Netherlands into the team pursuit semifinals Friday with a flawless ride around the Olympic Oval in his first race since his lane-switching gaffe cost him gold in the 10,000 meters.

In the women’s team qualifying, the United States scored an upset by eliminating favored Canada by .05 seconds when 1,000 gold medalist Christine Nesbitt failed to get her skate across the line fast enough, the laggard on her team. Defending champion Germany beat the Netherlands.

Among the men, defending champion Italy was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Canada to finish an awful Olympics for Enrico Fabris, who was the best skater in Turin four years ago with two gold and a bronze. He won nothing in Vancouver.

The Canadian men, who have yet to win a speedskating medal at the Richmond Oval, finished with an Olympic record of 3 minutes, 42.38 seconds for their eight laps around the oval.

In the tightest race of the heats and the most shocking, Norway eliminated South Korea by just .03 seconds for a time of 3:43.66. The Koreans have skated well throughout these games, winning three golds and two silvers, and their early elimination was a surprise.

Four-time Olympic medalist Chad Hedrick extended his speedskating career another day, leading the United States to an easy win over Japan to set up a semifinal against the Dutch.

The semifinals are set for later Friday with the final on Saturday.

All eyes, though, were on Kramer, who is seeking redemption after a shocking blunder. Along the side of the track, the team was coached by Gerard Kemkers, who sent Kramer into the wrong lane on Tuesday in the costly 10,000-meter race.

Kramer took the lead from the start Friday, quickly built a big margin over the Swedes, and let his two teammates do the cleaning up. As he crossed the line, Kramer raised his thumb, pleased with the work.

“We didn’t go full speed. It was good enough,” said his teammate Jan Blokhuijsen. “We will get better and better.”

The team pursuit was added in Turin and provides head-to-head competition between teams of three tightly bunched skaters starting from opposite sides of the oval.

There are no lane changeovers, and the winner is determined by which team gets all three of its skaters across the line first. The men race eight laps from the inside lane, the women six.

It was a last chance for Fabris to save his Olympics but he, or rather his teammates, failed.

The Canadians already were out of their skating crouch and pumping fists as they crossed the line, safe in the knowledge the huge lead they had built would suffice. The Italians struggled throughout and over the last lap, Fabris went out in front and basically had to wait for the others to catch up. The losing margin of 3.97 seconds was the biggest of all four quarterfinals.

“It was negative. We didn’t feel the right rhythm. We didn’t find a way to keep enough energy,” he said.

Hedrick, who won bronze in the 1,000, was still in line to add a last medal. The 33-year-old American teamed with a pair of 19-year-olds, Jonathan Kuck and Trevor Marsicano as the U.S. team beat the Japanese by 3.90 seconds.

The U.S. women though were even better. They were expected to be routed by the hosts, but the team of Jennifer Rodriguez, Jilleanne Rookard and Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr. stunned Canada’s star-studded team of Nesbitt, double medalist Kristina Groves and Brittany Schussler to advance to Saturday’s semifinals.

Swider-Peltz slipped a bit in the turn but managed to get across the line ahead of the last Canadian skater, Nesbitt.

Canada coach Ingrid Paul immediately clasped her hands across her mouth in shock and a heavy silence fell over the Olympic Oval.

Japan beat South Korea and Poland swept past the Russians in the other races.