Nils van der Poel gives Sweden first speedskating gold since 1988

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Nils van der Poel gave Sweden its first Olympic speedskating medal since 1988, pulling off a stunning comeback to win gold in the 5,000 meters Sunday at the Beijing Games.

Van der Poel was a big favorite coming into the event as the reigning world champion, with an undefeated record in the distance events on this season's World Cup circuit.

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The 25-year-old lived up to the hype in the 12 1/2-lap race at the Ice Ribbon oval, turning on the speed at the end to overcome Patrick Roest of the Netherlands with an Olympic record of 6 minutes, 8.84 seconds.

Roest had skated about an hour earlier in the sixth of 10 pairs, initially breaking the Olympic mark in 6.09.31.

Then he nervously watched in the workout room as one pair after another failed to take down his time.

It looked as though van der Poel in the final group would come up short, too, as he fell 2 seconds behind Roest's pace with just three laps to go.

Then the Swede kicked it into another gear.

Nils van der Poel of Sweden celebrates after winning the gold medal and setting an Olympic record in the men's speedskating 5,000-meter race at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, in Beijing.  (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

He thrilled the sparse crowd by slicing into Roest's time with each stride, his progression marked in real time on the scoreboard.

Turns out, van der Poel had just enough time to claim the gold. His final lap was a scorching 28.97 — his second-fastest of the grueling event.

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Van der Poel threw up his arms when he saw the winning time. Roest, watching the race on a video screen, let out a groan