8-time Olympic Medalist Apolo Anton Ohno reacts to the record-breaking performances from Dutch Skaters Jutta Leerdam and Femke Kok in Milan, Italy. USA’s two-time bronze medalist Brittany Bowe narrowly missed the podium in 4th.
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Video Transcript
What’s going on?
Apollo Anton Ohno here, here in Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Tonight, the inside edge went to the Dutch.
They went one, two.
You’ve probably seen these from the results.
They have this incredible ability to time their peak, meaning they train for four years, the World Championships and World Cups, but the thing that really matters is them to be physically and mentally total alignment for this day, on this day, for literally a minute and 12 seconds, a minute and 10 seconds.
It all comes down to this.
One day too early, a little bit flat.
Two days too late, you’re just not the same athlete.
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And so this is a little bit different that I’m not sure how many people realize timing that peak is really hard.
You have great days, you have bad days.
Brittany Bowe from the US skated an amazing race.
She tried to fight hard.
She finished in, in fourth, just off the podium.
Disappointing for sure.
She, you know, four years ago, has been very strong.
She’s battled through her own injuries.
She’s at the later stage of her career, but I grew up with this young athlete when, when I was skating with her.
I mean, she, this girl’s basketball skills are insane, by the way.
Like, she is very athletic.
People don’t know that about, about, Brittany Bowe.
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And then Erin Jackson, she’s a pure sprinter, right?
She’s been slightly inconsistent this year.
She’s battled some of her own injuries back and forth.
As you know, you know, short track and long track speed skating are very different.
Mine was short track, but long track is all about the time trial.
It’s about power and speed and consistency.
The ice conditions here look pretty good.
We’re seeing Olympic records being broken left and right, and I think generally, this just comes down to those who’ve been prepared over the past four years and those who’ve really been able to time this peak.
So the American women went fourth in this 1,000 meters.
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Brittany Bowe was in fourth, and then in sixth place was Erin Jackson.
They’ve still got more races ahead.
Erin Jackson is the 500-meter specialist, as was we saw from Femke Kok from the Netherlands, the Dutch skater.
Their first 300 meters is absolutely incredible.
So the things that I want you to pay attention to when you are watching long track speed skating, specifically, is in the sprints, like the 1,000-meter, watch for these things that they, they got both of their arms down, or they have both arms in their back.
And people always ask me, “Why the hell do these athletes have their arms in their back?”
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Well, they’re trying to create this aerodynamic position.
So when you swing an arm, you can probably see, like, my shoulders are moving left and right.
And so you want to be as aerodynamic as possible, and speed skating is actually all about the hip power generating into the quads and then into that skate, into the ice.
And so anytime there’s a chain, that is being broken in terms of nose, knees, toes, you’re losing a little bit of power.
Something that I also want to note, ’cause I think this is just so fascinating, when you look at an athlete like Jutta Leerdam, her technique is not actually the best.
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She is just so physically dominant, and her- the first 500 meters that we saw her skate was good, but the, really, the last, the last 500 meters is where she shines.
Even though she looks like she’s got a little bit of a slower cadence, she’s just generating so much power.
And when you watch long track speed skating on TV, it probably looks a little bit easy.
Some of you probably have your socks on going around, or your kids going around in the kitchen, but this sport is tough.
I mean, I’m talking about lactic acid buildup in your quads.
Imagine doing, like, a StairMaster with, like, a 200-pound weight vest, and you can feel and taste that metallic taste in your teeth.
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It’s, it’s, it’s a nasty, gnarly feeling.
But it was an amazing night tonight.
I really wanted to see the Americans win.
They’ve got more races, Erin Jackson in the, 500 meters.
We’ll see if Brittany skates in the 15.
They’ve got the team, the team pursuit, which we are, I think, in a really good shot to win some medals, but that’s the inside edge for tonight.