There was high drama at the Olympic speedskating rink on Wednesday.
Joep Wennemars of the Netherlands was granted a re-skate after the final pair of the men's 1,000 metres following controversy in his original skate.
While changing lanes after a turn, Lian Ziwen of China, who was in the inside lane, clipped the skate of Wennemars.
The skater in the outside line is granted right of way on exchanges. After reviewing the incident, officials disqualified the Chinese skater.
Wennemars was visibly angry after crossing the finish line, taking a swipe at Lian.
Wennemars was fifth after all skaters had completed their pairings, just .24 seconds back of a bronze medal. He clearly lost speed with the clip, potentially ruining his shot at a podium.
About a half-hour after his original skate, Wennemars got his second chance. But he appeared to be battling fatigue and his time of one minute 8.46 seconds was only the ninth fastest.
The original fifth-place result and time (1:07.58) stood for the 2025 world champion at the distance.
American star Jordan Stolz won gold with an Olympic-record time of 1:06.28. Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands was second and China's Ning Zhongyan was third.
The controversial incident brought back memories for some fans of the 1,000-metre race at the 2022 Olympics when Canada's Laurent Dubreuil was paired up with Dutch skater Kai Verbij.
After Dubreuil's fast start, Verbij slowed up to avoid a potential collision. The Canadian went on to win a silver medal.
“I can't say thank you enough to him,” Dubreuil said after the race, per Yahoo. “It was a really professional and classy move to do. He’s a friend, so when he gets over it — I’ll give him some time — I’ll thank him for sure.”
Dubreuil finished eighth in the 2026 Olympic race.
