Belgian skater Fran Vanhoutte secured a ninth-place finish in the mass start final despite battling illness, while fellow competitor Sandrine Tas finished 13th after an aggressive race strategy.
Sporza, Belgium
Fran Vanhoutte’s performance in the mass start final was notable given that she had been suffering from the flu for two days prior and experienced severe exhaustion and nausea. Despite these challenges, she managed to qualify for the final and completed the race in ninth position. Vanhoutte revealed that she felt weak and even had to vomit after the semifinals, but with medication and determination, she pushed through to earn points in the penultimate sprint.
“Mentally and physically I was exhausted,” Vanhoutte said. “I had to set my feelings aside and just focus on finishing the race. It was a big victory for me to even be in the final.” She acknowledged that had she been healthy, her ambitions for the race would have been higher, but given her condition, she was proud of her performance.
Sandrine Tas took a different approach by adopting an aggressive tactic, attempting multiple breakaways similar to some successful moves she observed in other races. However, her efforts did not lead to a decisive escape from the pack. Tas finished 13th and reflected that her strategy of ‘all or nothing’ was a calculated risk that ultimately did not pay off.
Tas explained that the mass start was not her primary focus at the Games; instead, she concentrated on the 3,000 and 5,000 meter events. She also noted that she had not conducted many sprint-specific training sessions for the mass start, which may have impacted her final sprint performance.
Still, Tas remains positive about her Olympic campaign, having finished seventh in the 3,000 meter event, sixth in the team pursuit, and fourth in the 5,000 meter. She emphasized how close she came to winning a medal in the 5,000 meter, missing out by just three-tenths of a second. Looking ahead, Tas intends to shift her focus to road cycling, with plans to start competing in that sport by the end of April.
