[Olympics] Bwiseuteu, Five Consecutive Gold Medals Across Five Games

First Athlete in History to Win Olympic Medals in an Individual Event 5 Consecutive Times
"Something Hard to Explain Happened... I Feel Many Emotions"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Elaine W?st (36), the Netherlands' leading speed skater, has achieved the monumental feat of winning gold medals in five consecutive Winter Olympics. On the 7th, at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, China, she crossed the finish line in the women's 1500m speed skating event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics with an Olympic record time of 1:53.28. She edged out Japan's Miho Takagi (1:53.72) by 0.44 seconds to claim the gold medal.

With this, W?st set a historic record as the first athlete in Olympic history to win gold medals in five consecutive Games. Across both Summer and Winter Olympics, this is the first time an individual has won medals in the same event for five consecutive Olympics. W?st won gold in the women's 3000m at the 2006 Torino Games, the women's 1500m at the 2010 Vancouver Games, the women's 3000m and team pursuit at the 2014 Sochi Games, and the women's 1500m at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. With this latest victory, she has collected her sixth gold medal, bringing her total medal count to twelve (five silver and one bronze).

She expressed her emotions, saying, "Something hard to explain has happened. I feel many emotions." W?st aims to add more medals in the individual 1000m and the team pursuit events.