Nuis, Krol give Dutch 1-2 finish in Olympic speedskating

By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP National Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands has become the first speedskater since 1994 to successfully defend his Olympic title in the men’s 1,500 meters. He edged teammate Thomas Krol at the Beijing Games. Krol broke the 20-year-old Olympic record in his 3 3/4 laps around the Ice Ribbon oval. The mark didn’t last very long. Nuis went even faster in the very next pairing and crossed the line with a blistering time of 1 minute, 43.21 seconds. The bronze went to Kim Minseok of South Korea. He was more than a second behind the winner.