Dutch speedskater Tuitert stuns Davis for gold

Canada's Morrison, Makowsky can't match World Cup standard

Last Updated: Saturday, February 20, 2010 | 11:52 PM ET

CBC Sports

Mark Tuitert of the Netherlands, right, celebrates with his coach after Saturday's 1,500. (Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Veteran speedskater Mark Tuitert of the Netherlands was an upset winner over Shani Davis in the men's 1,500 at the Richmond Oval on Saturday with former world-record holder Denny Morrison of Canada again suffering disappointment at the Vancouver Games.

Davis, skating in the final pairing with Canadian Lucas Makowsky, could not match Tuitert's time of one minute 45.57 seconds.

"It was a monster race for me," said Tuitert. "Shani has been winning everything, Chad [Hedrick] was so good and then I produce this race."

Davis crossed in 1:46.10 for silver, clearly tired down the final straight.

"I just couldn't man up and do it," Davis said. "I wasn't strong enough for the victory."

Despite that, Davis said he didn't consider a silver medal a loss.

Havard Bokko won the first of what some believe will be multiple Olympic medals in his career, taking bronze in what was a blistering pairing with Tuitert.

Morrison, of Fort St. John, B.C., finished in ninth place. He held the world record for a year beginning in 2008 until Davis took it back, and had twice reached the podium on the World Cup circuit in the 1,500 this season.

Morrison was 13th in the 1,000 earlier in the week.

"That's kind of what's been happening to me all season long," said Morrison. "I don't know if it's something with the program or what, because I know as far as lactic capacity or total lactic power is concerned, if we were to do hill sprints I could crush all these guys."

Montreal's Mathieu Giroux had a positive result in his first Olympic race on Saturday, crossing in a time of 1:47.62, good for 14th place.

Regina native Makowsky was unable to ride Davis's coattails in the final pairing, ending up 19th.

Kyle Parrott of Minnedosa, Man., finished 37th in the last of his three Olympic outings.

Mo Tae-Bum of South Korea, who already has gold and silver at these Olympics, led with just four pairings to go in a time of 1:46.76.

But Tuitert and Bokko took things to another level, with the Dutch skater setting a track record.

Bokko, who has four silver medals at world championships, was timed at 1:46.13.

Tuitert, who turns 30 in April, had never won an individual Olympic medal before. He was part of his country's team pursuit bronze at the 2006 Torino Games.

He's fifth in the World Cup standings this season at the distance, with Canada's Morrison in fourth and Makowsky in sixth.

"I've had so many disappointments, so many setbacks," Tuitert said. "It all came together in this race."

Davis holds the world record 1:41.04 on the fast Salt Lake City track, set in December.

He had won four of five World Cup races at the distance this season, finishing second in the other to Hedrick.

The 1,500 also eluded Davis in Torino, as he took silver behind Italy's Enrico Fabris. The 27-year-old Chicago native now has two gold and two silver in his Olympic career.

"I told myself if I came away with a gold medal, I’d take a break and relax [but now] I am sure it is going to keep me in the sport," said Davis.

Hedrick of the United States, third in the World Cup standings in the 1,500, could not make it a fifth career Olympic medal. Hedrick, in the penultimate pairing with Dutch skater Stefan Groothuis, was sixth.

Morrison was paired with Ivan Skobrev, the bronze-medal winner in the 5,000 last week. The Russian would end up knocked off the podium by the Davis effort, finishing fourth.

Morrison had a good time at the first split, but fell progressively behind in each split after that.

"In the last lap, you saw, I just lost all my speed and basically, 'exploded' is the term," he said. "It wasn't that I wasn't trying hard, it wasn't that I gave up, I just wasn't technically putting it into the ice the way I should have been.

"And that's something I've lost in the last 12 or 15 months and it's kind of frustrating to be getting closer and closer to the Olympics and know that I'm skating poorer and poorer, especially when I get tired."

Fabris was 10th, with Sven Kramer, the gold medallist from the Netherlands in the 5,000 last week, in 13th.

Derek Perra of the U.S. holds the Olympic record, 1:43.95, set in 2002. Perra is now a coach with the American team.