Speedskater Kramer stays on road to redemption as he leads Dutch to team pursuit semis

Dutch men advance to team pursuit semifinals

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

Defending champion Italy was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Canada, finishing an awful Olympics for Enrico Fabris, the best skater at the Turin Games with two gold and a bronze. He won nothing in Vancouver.

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

The Canadian men, who have yet to win a speedskating medal, finished with an Olympic record of 3 minutes, 42.38 seconds.

In the tightest race of the heats, Norway eliminated South Korea over the eight laps by just .03 seconds for a time of 3:43.66. After the Koreans surprised speedskating’s traditional powers with three golds and two silvers, their early elimination was just as shocking.

Four-time Olympic medalist Chad Hedrick extended his speedskating career another day, leading the United States to an easy win over Japan in the quarterfinals.

The 33-year-old Hedrick, who won bronze in the 1,000, teamed with a pair of 19-year-olds — Jonathan Kuck and Trevor Marsicano — as the U.S. team beat the Japanese squad of Shigeyuki Dejima, Hiroki Hirako and Teruhiro Sugimori by 3.90 seconds.

The U.S. advanced to the semifinals to face the favored Netherlands.

The semifinals are set for later Friday with the final on Saturday in the last race of the speedskating program.

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, the very same coach who sent Kramer into the wrong lane Tuesday.

Kramer took the lead from the start, 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,” teammate Jan Blokhuijsen said. “We will get better and better.”

The team pursuit, added in Turin, provides head-to-head competition between teams of three tightly bunched skaters starting from opposite sides of the oval. There are no lane changeovers in the event, 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.