Written by :
Published on :
Nils Van Der Poel (SWE) is the one to beat in Friday's early morning (Eastern Standard Time) Speed Skating: Men's 10000m.
Der Poel 's odds were set at -750 and some books will not be offering odds on this event as a result of the huge advantage he has coming in.
The Swedish speed skater is the current world and Olympic record holder and reigning world and Olympic champion in the 5,000 m event and current world record holder and reigning world champion in the 10,000 m event.
In this year's Winter Olympics, Der Poel provided Sweden with its first speed scating gold medal since 1988, winning the 5,000-meter speedskating race. He also broke an Olympic record with a win in 6 minutes, 8.84 seconds.
"I was not so sure I was going to be the victor today," van der Poel said. "Perhaps the expectations drop as you feel like the goal is slipping. But there's still fight, and you've got to struggle through it. That's a challenge."
Tomas Gustafson won a pair of golds in the 5,000 and 10,000 at the Calgary Games 34 years ago. Since then, the Swedes had not finished higher than seventh in an Olympic race.
"The hard thing while speedskating is, the first 80% of the race, that's all about setting yourself up for the last laps," van der Poel said. "When the last laps come, that's when it [stinks] the most, but you also know it's the last laps. You just go for it. You give it your all."
- Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com
