Belgium Wins First Winter Olympic Gold for 74 Years

Belgium won their first Winter Olympics gold medal for 74 years when speed skater Bart Swings surged to victory in the men’s mass start at Beijing 2022 yesterday.

The 31-year-old, who won silver in 2018, was second going into the final corner but found an extra gear in the sprint for the line.

“It’s historical and it’s unbelievable,” he said.

“The next thing after silver is gold. I know it was ambitious and it’s a dream to work towards.”

It was his country’s first Winter Olympics gold since pairs figure skaters Micheline Lannoy and Pierre Baugniet triumphed in 1948.

South Koreans Chung Jae Won and Lee Seung Hoon took silver and bronze respectively.

Meanwhile, in the women’s event Irene Schouten won her third gold medal of the Games to continue Dutch dominance of the discipline. Canada’s Ivanie Blondin got silver and Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida picked up the bronze. Defending champion Nana Takagi had crashed out in the semi-final.

China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong claimed figure skating pairs gold after narrowly missing out in Pyeongchang four years ago.

The two were half a point away from a gold medal in the last Games but produced a near-flawless routine in front of their home crowd to claim victory.