By Pearl Josephine Nazare
MILAN, Feb 8 (Reuters) - World record holder Sander Eitrem lived up to his billing as favourite, as the Norwegian stormed to gold in the 5,000 metres at the Milano Cortina Winter
Olympics on Sunday.
Czech Republic's Metodej Jilek claimed silver, while Italy's Riccardo Lorello delighted the home crowd with bronze.
Eitrem stopped the clock in an Olympic-record time of 6 minutes 3.95 seconds, finishing 2.53 seconds ahead of Jilek.
The 23-year-old Eitrem - who became the first athlete to skate the distance in under 6 minutes at the Speed Skating World Cup in Inzell in January - secured Norway's 29th Olympic gold medal in the sport at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium.
His win made him the third Norwegian champion of these Olympics, after Anna Odine Stroem opened Norway's gold-medal tally with her normal-hill triumph on Saturday and Johannes Klaebo won the men's skiathlon earlier on Sunday.
Competing in his first Olympics, Eitrem ensured there were no surprises despite a field that included Timothy Loubineaud, Jilek, Casey Dawson and home favourite Davide Ghiotto, all considered contenders after strong World Cup performances.
Ghiotto and Loubineaud recorded the fourth- and fifth-fastest times.
Drawn in the second-last pair and skating the outer lane alongside 19-year-old Jilek, Eitrem got off to a terrible start but recovered quickly, settling into his rhythm as the crowd roared him on.
At the finish, he thumped his chest in celebration.
His triumph signals a shifting landscape in the men's 5,000m. At Beijing 2022, the now-retired Swede Nils van der Poel won the title, while at the three previous Olympics the distance was dominated by Dutchman Sven Kramer.
This also marks the second consecutive distance at these Olympics in which the Netherlands have missed the podium.
On Saturday, Italian Francesca Lollobrigida powered to victory in the women's 3,000 metres, delivering Italy's first gold of Milano-Cortina and ending the Dutch run of three straight Olympic titles at the distance, with Norway's Ragne Wiklund and Canada's Valerie Maltais joining her on the podium.
Despite their quiet start, the Netherlands remain speed skating's most dominant nation, with a record 48 Olympic gold medals, far ahead of the United States (30) and Norway (29).
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Milan; Editing by Clare Fallon and Alison Williams)
