The other night, I had the privilege of attending the men’s 10000m speed skating final. This was the night that the medalists would be named and the athletes put it all on the line. Competing in this event was the current world record holder as well as the Olympic record holder. Both athletes were looking to bring home gold for their respective countries. As the skaters can only compete 2 at a time, the Olympic record holder was up before the world record holder. The Olympic record holder was from the Netherlands and there were a lot of fans in orange who showed up to cheer for their local hero. The crowd was electric when he beat his own record to set a new Olympic record. In the next heat, however, was the current world record holder: a man from Canada. As with the Netherlands, there were many Canadians who showed up to support their country’s superstar. The crowd went wild when not only did he beat the previous times set by the previous heat, but also set a new Olympic record. Back to back new records were set and the competition was fierce. Canada would ultimately take home gold and the Netherlands, silver but the whole crowd was completely excited and proud of the athletes and the caliber of competition that they brought to the Olympic games.
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