Wennemars burst out of the blocks on Wednesday, significantly faster than Ziwen. After 600 meters, he entered an outer lane. This gave him the right of way at the crossover, but the Chinese skater – who had closed the gap somewhat – seemed oblivious. He skated on stoically, leading to a collision with Wennemars. Remarkably, the Dutchman stayed on his feet and ultimately skated to the fifth-fastest time.

"I still get shivers thinking about it. It feels absolutely terrible. Especially for Joep, that's the main thing. The fact that he missed out on a medal because of this is truly the worst part," a bewildered Bos told NOS.

Joep Wennemars in Chinese skater's 'blind spot'

According to Bos, at 600 meters, it was already clear that a collision was a strong possibility. "You could see it was getting very tight. If he had taken that inner turn well, he would have made it. But he didn't. He stalled, and then… there was just no stopping it. It was an unavoidable situation, and he simply didn't see him. Joep was in his blind spot," Bos attempted to explain.

Bos is a contemporary of Wennemars' father, Erben. The two former speed skaters even met in Milan. "Jan came up to me, he's also devastated. He's really gutted too," Wennemars senior recounted on Studio Olimpico.

Footage showed Bos seemingly pointing his pupil outwards. "We've seen Gerard Kemkers," Wennemars alluded to the much-discussed lane change incident in 2010. "I don't know, I'm not going to say anything about it. He certainly wouldn't do it on purpose; I've been through so much with Jan."

Apologies leave Wennemars cold

Wennemars was given the opportunity to re-skate his 1000 meters. He did, but his legs were still heavy from the first attempt. "The Chinese skater did come up to me to apologize, but that doesn't mean anything to me," Wennemars stated. "My medal was taken from me. You win together, you lose alone. Everyone will forget about this soon, and Joep was fifth at the Games. That hurts me a lot."

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