Jenning de Boo claimed the Dutch team’s third medal of the Olympics as he had to settle for second place behind American phenomenon Jordan Stolz.
The 22-year-old lead at the 600m mark despite stuttering on the start line, reaching a top speed of 61 km/h, but Stolz turned on the afterburners on the last lap to finish half a second ahead of his rival in a time of 1:06.28.
In a stadium packed with cheering Dutch fans, there was heartbreak for Joep Wennemars in the 10th heat when he collided with his Chinese opponent Lian Zwien on the closing lap.
Wennemars, who was on course to emulate his father Erben’s bronze medal from Turin in 2006, still posted a leading time of 1:07.58, but it was only good enough for fifth place in the final reckoning.
The collision meant the 23-year-old was allowed a second solo run, but his energy was spent and he finished nearly a second slower than his original time.
Another Chinese skater, Ning Zhongyan, took bronze in a time of 1:07.34.
Kjeld Nuis, the champion from 2018 and the defending champion over 1500m, finished sixth in 1:07.65 in what is expected to be his final Olympics.
The 36-year-old will pull on the orange speedsuit for the last time in the 1500m next Thursday, while Wennemars has two chances of redemption in the 1500m and Saturday’s 500m.
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