Silver and bronze went to the South Koreans Chung Jae-won and Lee Seung-hoon, Olympic champions in 2018. In the women’s race, Irene Schouten (NED) won ahead of Ivanie Blondin (CAN) and Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA).
Odor had finished fourth in his semi-final and started the first three intermediate sprints in the final. The 21-year-old was rewarded with second place and two points. That secured him a midfield position. After that, the ÖOC athlete tried twice to get more sprint points in the wake of the great Sven Kramer, but the duo was quickly caught. For Kramer it was the last race of his career, he finished 16th in the final. or -last.
“I was sure he wanted a precious metal,” Odor had counted on Kramer’s ambitions. The “Oranje” is not the big sprinter, so he tried it. “I went along and hoped that we would get away. But those at the back know that if you give Sven Kramer and a breakaway space, it will be difficult to catch them up again. That’s why they caught us again relatively quickly,” explained the World Cup tenth the APA – Austria Press Agency.
But it was worth a try and he was also very proud of his performance and the placement. Odor: “I had a hard time at the beginning of the season. But now I know I’m in good shape. The pressure at the Olympics is very high. That intimidated me a bit. The button kept coming loose, today it burst and the dream has come true – tenth place at the Olympic Games. Not many can say that about themselves.”
After the race, he fell into the arms of his Olympic supervisor Linus Heidegger, sixth at the Olympic premiere of the 2018 mass start in Pyeongchang. “We couldn’t quite believe it and had tears in our eyes,” said the man from Grinzen. He had set himself the goal of the top ten at his Olympic premiere. “I gave everything to the last grain and I’m super proud that I achieved that.”
The medals were awarded in the final sprint, which he didn’t feel quite ready for. “At the moment my level is like this, I can sprint for a lap at full throttle,” explained the all-rounder. “I shot the grain with the attack on the points and then with Sven Kramer.” If you go to the final sprint, you can also go away empty-handed. Because only the top five are rewarded with points in the finish, the top three with medals.
In the semifinals, Odor’s race had developed differently, two breakaways had separated early. “I was 100 percent convinced that one of the favorites would close the hole and they wouldn’t get away,” he said. “But I knew I wasn’t a favorite and I’d wait and see. I’m definitely not going to close the hole for the favorites. The others have a lot more pressure than me, they have to perform.” So Odor bet on the final sprint and was rewarded.
He will now be at the World Cup finals on 12./13. Mass start in March. Where he will prepare in the three weeks until then is open. In Innsbruck there is no more ice and in Inzell it will be switched off in a week and a half. The best preparation would have been to take part in the Allround World Championships in Hamar at the beginning of March. However, three days ago he found out that the Austrian association did not take the place.
According to Odor, he doesn’t have a precise plan for the time after the season either. “Speed skating is still a marginal sport in Austria. We have great conditions in Innsbruck, but I’m the only long-distance runner.” He is aware that in the long run it cannot be done alone. “I hope that the ÖESV will show some consideration for me and understand that you don’t want to be in Innsbruck as a lone wolf.”
Source: Nachrichten
