Olympic Speedskating Schedule 2018: TV, Live-Stream Info for Women's 1,000M

The Netherlands will look to continue their imperious run in the speedskating events at the 2018 Winter Olympics on Wednesday as four of their stars seek gold in the women's 1,000-metre discipline.

Dutchman Sven Kramer added to his Olympic medal tally with a third successive gold in the men's 5,000 metres, while the Netherlands swept the podium in the women's 3,000-metre event on Saturday.

Ireen Wust collected silver in that race and is the only Dutch contender who returns to the Gangneung Oval for the women's 1,000 metres, with four Olympic golds to her name already but none in this event.

China's Zhang Hong will have something to say about any Dutch domination, however, as she seeks to defend the gold she won at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, as will 1,000-metre world-record-holder Nao Kodaira.

Read on for a breakdown of the essential viewing information needed to watch Wednesday's final and a preview of the race.

Date: Wednesday, February 14

Time: 5 a.m. ET/10 a.m. GMT

TV Info: NBC Universal (U.S.), BBC and Eurosport (UK)

Live Stream: NBC Olympics (U.S.), BBC iPlayer (UK), Eurosport Player (UK)

Preview

It's no secret the Netherlands team will be one to keep an eye on in the women's 1,000 metres, just like any speedskating event, with the country having developed a considerable knack for winning tactics in this sport.

That was exemplified in the women's 3,000 metres, where Wust clinched her fourth Olympic silver medal and ninth Olympic medal overall, with a substantial national record now in sight for the 31-year-old, per Simon Gleave of Gracenote Sports:

"

Ireen Wüst (#NED) also equalled Bob de Jong's record of medals for the Netherlands at 4 different #OlympicWinterGames when she won 賂yesterday as we had forecast (thanks @MarkoVeenstra for reminding me).

One more medal for Wüst and she is the most successful Dutch Olympian ever pic.twitter.com/Jq4GIjY29H

— Simon Gleave (@SimonGleave) February 11, 2018"

She was only 0.67 seconds off Zhang's winning time in Sochi four years ago and was one of four Dutch skaters in the top six finishers of the women's 1,000 metres, albeit missing out on the grand prize.

It will be a stiff task for Zhang—holder of the Chinese records in both the 500- and 1,000-metre events—to repeat her win four years on, but a near-seamless performance in Sochi showed no victory is decided in advance:

South Korean Lee Sang-hwa has won back-to-back gold medals in the women's 500-metre event but has never medalled in this event. Nevertheless, she'll be looked upon as a potential front-runner in front of a home crowd.

She is said to have endured a fractious relationship with Japanese skater Kodaira, who has also been a big figure on the 500-metre circuit in recent years.

However, Kodaira recently played down suggestions of a divide between the two and told the Japan Times: "I give no thought whatsoever to that. Every skater exists in a world where what’s important is pushing yourself further."

Kodaira will feature as part of a four-woman contingent set to take part in Wednesday's 1,000-metre showdown, and Lee also dismissed their rivalry ahead of the midweek meeting, per ISU Speed Skating:

The Japanese representative broke the world record for this event back in December, when she recorded a time of one minute, 12.09 seconds in Salt Lake City, Utah—two seconds faster than Zhang's winning time in Sochi.

The Netherlands will have their eyes set on gold in a bid to keep up their rampant start to the speedskating events in Pyeongchang, but a capable corps of Asian talents have the potential to rain on their parade.