Sablikova wins gold again in 5,000m

DPA/Sochi, Russia Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic won back-to-back 5,000m speed skating golds yesterday, gaining an element of revenge for a Sochi defeat in the 3,000m to Ireen Wust of the Netherlands. Sablikova clocked 6 minutes 51.54 seconds in the Adler Arena, beating Wust by 2.74 seconds, with Wust’s Dutch teammate Carien Kleibeuker clinching bronze at 4.12 seconds. “After winning gold in Vancouver, it’s great to win it here in Sochi as well, and this time in front of all my family,” 26-year-old Sablikova said. “They came here today especially for this race, and it’s just great to win.” Germany’s five-time gold medallist Claudia Pechstein, who has won three golds over the distance, came fifth behind Russia’s 3,000m bronze medallist Olga Graf. World champion Sablikova, who was also 3,000m gold medallist in Vancouver, now has five Olympic medals. After finishing behind Wust for silver in the 3,000m she outpaced the Dutch skater in the penultimate of the eight pairings. Wust now has four medals in Sochi - one gold and three silver - and seven overall. “This feels totally different than my silver medal in the 1500m,” Wust said. “Now I feel like I have won silver. In the 1500 it felt like losing gold. “This was a real tough one, but that’s always the case in the 5k. In the last few laps I was dying.” The Dutch double takes their tally to 21 their tally in speed skating at the Sochi Games.