Norway's Sander Eitrem Wins Olympic Gold After Rocky Start

Sander Eitrem nearly fell at the starting line of the men's 5,000-meter speedskating race at the Milan Cortina Olympics, but the Norwegian athlete turned his stumble into one of the greatest comebacks of the Games.

The 23-year-old finished in 6 minutes and 3.95 seconds on Sunday, crushing the previous Olympic record by nearly 6 seconds. His time was more than 5 seconds faster than Italy's Riccardo Lorello, who led the competition before Eitrem's heat.

The race started about as badly as possible. Eitrem lost his balance during his first few strides, putting him a quarter second behind Lorello at the first checkpoint.

But by the 1,400-meter mark, he had pulled ahead. From there, he just kept building his lead, stride by stride, lap by lap.

When his winning time flashed on the scoreboard, Eitrem shook his right fist and raised it high. It was his first Olympic race, and he'd just won gold for Norway.

Metodej Jilek of the Czech Republic took silver at age 19, finishing 2.53 seconds behind Eitrem. Lorello earned bronze in front of his home crowd in Italy.

Why This Inspires

Eitrem's performance reminds us that setbacks don't determine outcomes. He could have let that early stumble shake his confidence or throw off his rhythm.

Instead, he stayed focused on what he could control. He didn't panic or give up when he saw that quarter-second deficit at the checkpoint.

Last month, Eitrem became the first man in speedskating history to complete the 5,000 meters in under 6 minutes at a World Cup race in Germany. While Sunday's time didn't break that barrier, it didn't need to.

American skater Casey Dawson finished eighth in the race, finally getting his Olympic moment four years after testing positive for COVID-19 forced him to miss the 5,000 meters in Beijing. Sometimes the gold medal isn't the only victory worth celebrating.

Eitrem turns 24 on Thursday, and he'll celebrate as an Olympic champion who proved that how you start matters less than how you finish.