Sander Eitrem, 23-year-old Norwegian speed skater, has smashed a new Olympic record by three seconds as he claimed another gold for Norway at the Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina in men's speed skating 5000m, in his Olympic debut.
Eitrem finished in 6:03.95, more than three seconds faster than the previous Olympic record, 6:08.84, set by Sweden's Nils van der Poel in Beijing 2022. Czech skater Metodej Jilek and Italian skater Riccardo Lorello took home the silver and bronze.
Eitrem only fell short of his own high mark, 5:58.52, the World Record (and the first and only man to break the six-minute barrier in 5000m) he broke last January at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Salt Lake City. But it was more than enough to set a new high mark at the Winter Olympics, and bring Norway's first medal in men's 5000m since 1994.
Only one day before, his compatriot Ragne Wiklund (25 years old) earned a silver medal at the women's 3000m. So far, in Day 3 of the Olympics, Norway leads the medal table with six medals, including three gold, with Anna Odine Strøm in women's normal hill, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (gold) and Martin Nyenget (bronze) for the men's 20 km skiathlon, and bronze for Heidi Weng in the women's 20 km skiathlon