Olympic speedskating: Women’s team pursuit finals results and highlights

Women win U.S. speedskating’s first medal since Vancouver 2010 in team pursuit at Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics.

The U.S. women’s speedskating team was not expected to make much of a stir in the team pursuit, but that didn’t stop Heather Bergsma, Brittany Bowe and Mia Manganello from making history. The American women took an early lead against rival Team Canada, though the Canadian trio was quick to close the gap. Despite a near-crash in the final curve, Team USA kept it together to secure bronze. The women had previously lost to the Netherlands, sending the Dutch to the gold medal contest and setting up a classic USA vs. Canada showdown.

Winning bronze marks USA speedskating’s first medal in Pyeongchang. It’s the first medal for the women’s team since 2002, when Jennifer Rodriguez won bronze in the 1500-meter and the first medal of any kind of USA speedskating since Vancouver in 2010.

In the gold medal race in Final A, Japan beat speedskating powerhouse and overwhelming favorites, the Netherlands, setting an Olympic record in the process. The Netherlands previously owned that Olympic record, which they set in the quarterfinal. This marks the fifth medal for Japan’s women’s speedskating team in Pyeongchang, more than doubling their previous medal count in speedskating across both men’s and women’s events. The Dutch, well, who can keep count.

MEDAL RESULT | Women's speedskating team pursuit

Team Japan

Team Netherlands

Team United States

The U.S. women’s speedskating team will hope to build on this momentum going into the final two events of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics: the 1,000-meter and the mass start.

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