Olympic Speedskating Schedule 2018: Guide for Every Upcoming Event
While some sports at the 2018 Winter Olympics are coming to a conclusion, speedskating still has a wide variety of events left on the schedule.
Both team pursuits and the introduction of the mass start remain on the docket, as well as the final men's individual event that takes place Friday.
The Netherlands has won the most medals in speedskating in Pyeongchang, South Korea, with 11, while Japan sits second with four. Canada, Norway, South Korea and the Czech Republic have picked up multiple medals in speedskating as well.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
The United States is one of the notable countries missing from the list, but that should change during the final three days of competition at the Gangneung Oval.
Upcoming Speedskating Schedule
Wednesday, February 21
Women's team pursuit semifinals (6 a.m. ET)
Men's team pursuit semifinals (6:22 a.m. ET)
Women's team pursuit final (7:58 a.m. ET)
Men's team pursuit final (8:17 a.m. ET)
Friday, February 23
Men's 1,000-meters (5 a.m. ET)
Saturday, February 24
Women's mass start (6 a.m. ET, final begins at 7:30 a.m. ET)
Men's mass start (6:45 a.m. ET, final begins at 8 a.m. ET)
Women's Team Pursuit
The Netherlands, Canada, Japan and United States are the four nations left in contention for the medals in the women's team pursuit.
The Dutch team of Marrit Leenstra, Ireen Wust and Antoinette De Jong set an Olympic record in Monday's quarterfinals with a time of two minutes, 55.61 seconds.
Japan posted the second-best time, but it needs to make up a half-second on the Netherlands to have a chance of taking gold.
Canada bested Germany, who has two golds in the event, in the third heat, while the United States knocked off Poland to earn the fourth spot in the semifinals.
The Americans face a stiff task against the Dutch in their head-to-head race Wednesday, but they could medal if they beat Canada in the bronze-medal race.
Japan and the Netherlands own 11 of the 15 medals from five women's speedskating events in Pyeongchang, and the predicted final should be nothing short of thrilling since Japan holds the world record and the Dutch have the Olympic record in their possession.
Men's Team Pursuit
South Korea, New Zealand, Norway and the Netherlands are still alive in the men's team pursuit.
There's a chance the semifinal between the Dutch and Norwegians could be better than the final, as three 2018 Olympic champions should participate in the race.
South Korea, who won the silver in Sochi, should get past New Zealand with ease as it gives the home crowd at Gangneung Oval plenty to cheer about.
The hosts recorded the best qualifying time of the four semifinalists, but it's worth taking into account the Dutch slowed down at the end with a major advantage over the United States in hand.
All three members of the Dutch squad that broke the Olympic record in Sochi are on the team in 2018. If Sven Kramer, Koen Verweij and Jan Blokhuijsen skate at that high of a level, no one is beating them in the final, not even an incredibly fast South Korean team.
Men's 1,000-meters
Norway's Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen has the opportunity to win his second gold in Pyeongchang Friday in the men's 1,000-meters.
Lorentzen enters as the leader in the event in the World Cup standings, per ISU.org, and is coming after a performance in the men's 500-meters in which he broke the Olympic record.
Lorentzen's top competition comes from the Dutch in the form of Kjeld Nuis and Kai Verbij.
Nuis will be back on the track a week after earning his first gold of the Olympics in the men's 1,500-meters, in which he led a 1-2 finish for the Dutch along with Patrick Roest.
Verbij is looking to bounce back from a disappointing ninth-place finish in the 500-meters in which he recorded a time five-tenths of a second slower than Lorentzen.
Finland's Mika Poutala is another skater to watch after he missed out on the medal positions by three-hundredths of a second in the 500-meters.
Women's Mass Start
A year after capturing gold at the World Single Distance Championships in the women's mass start, South Korea's Kim Bo-reum is in search of her first Olympic medal.
Kim leads a field that includes Heather Bergsma of the United States, who took bronze in Pyeongchang a year ago.
Canada's Ivanie Blondin and Japan's Nana Takagi are among the many contenders to top the podium in an event that features a start similar to short-track speedskating.
The final contains 24 skaters competing in a 16-lap final that is expected to feature all sorts of chaos during the mad dash to the finish line over the last few laps.
Men's Mass Start
The United States also has a chance to earn a medal in the men's mass start through 2017 world champion Joey Mantia.
The 32-year-old Florida native is looking to become the first American Olympic champion in speedskating since Shani Davis won the 1,000-meters in Vancouver.
Alexis Contin of France and Canada's Olivier Jean, who finished behind Mantia on the medal podium at last year's World Single Distance Championships, should be in contention for gold in addition to South Korea's Lee Seung-hoon.
One feature of the race worth watching is the intermediate sprint point that takes place halfway through the race. The top skaters at the sprint earn points that could help them in the final standings.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from Olympic.org and ISU.org.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
