Dutch delight as Groothuis ends Davis run

Stefan Groothuis continued the golden run of the Dutch at the Adler Arena by winning the men’s 1,000 metres speed skating title on Wednesday as favouriteShani Davis’s tilt at a third straight Olympic gold over the distance fell flat.

Groothuis clocked one minute, 8.39 seconds for his two-and-a-half laps in the 16th heat of 20 and watched as the final eight challengers failed to overhaul him.
Denny Morrison of Canada claimed silver, 0.04 seconds back of the 32-year-old Groothuis. Michel Mulder of Netherlands, the winner of the men’s 500m, took bronze.

Davis, the winner of the event at the 2006 Turin and 2010 Vancouver Games, was heavily tipped to become the first male speed skater to win the same race at three consecutive Games.
But he was forced to make do with eighth place, 0.71 seconds behind Groothuis, whose win was the fourth of five speed skating titles to go to the Dutch at the Sochi Games.