Kjeld Nuis secured a bronze medal in his final Olympic 1500-meter speed skating race, marking an emotional end to his Olympic career.
NOS, Netherlands.
At 36 years old, Kjeld Nuis did not initially qualify to compete in the Olympic 1500-meter event. However, following adjustments in the team selection, Nuis received a spot in the race, which became his final Olympic appearance. He finished third behind surprise gold medalist Ning Zhongyan and the favored Jordan Stolz. Nuis described the experience as a dream come true and expressed his happiness with tearful joy, saying, “It feels like I won.”
Nuis had missed qualification for the 1500 meters in December during the Olympic trials, a setback that almost ended his hopes for a fitting farewell on the ice in this discipline where he was twice Olympic champion in 2018 and 2022. After teammate Marcel Bosker was granted a start place, Nuis inherited a spot that allowed him to compete in his last Olympic race.
During the race, Nuis launched with an exceptionally fast opening lap of 22.94 seconds, which set the tone for his performance. He noted that from the start the race went exactly as planned and that he was faster than expected. Despite a brief mistake in one of the corners, he kept pace with Ning, who ultimately took the gold, and held off Stolz to earn bronze.
Nuis was surprised by the speed but confident in his capability. He commented that while he was unsure of the exact times during the race, he realized they were moving very fast. He finished just 0.07 seconds behind the silver medalist Stolz and 0.77 seconds behind Ning. Nuis said the exact color of the medal did not matter to him; he was simply proud to have achieved a podium finish in his final Olympic race.
The gold medalist Ning Zhongyan expressed his astonishment at beating the dominant Stolz, who had won all international 1500-meter races that season. Ning credited his coach Johan de Wit for his technical improvements that contributed to the victory. Johan de Wit described the race as extraordinary and noted that no one expected Ning to defeat Stolz. Stolz himself acknowledged Ning’s victory positively, describing him as “cool.”
