Fond farewells and a fittingly frantic finish

With new champions crowned and legends waving goodbye, the final day of speed skating action at the Ice Ribbon brought the curtain down on the sport's Beijing 2022 program in fittingly frantic style.

Already the world's most decorated nation in speed skating, the Netherlands showed no signs of slowing down after Irene Schouten finished first in the final of the women's mass start in 8 min 14.73 sec to claim her third gold medal and the country's sixth in the sport at these Games on Saturday.

As the most successful Dutch athlete in Beijing, Schouten, who also won the 3,000m and 5,000m golds, both in Olympic record times, is carving out a stellar career that potentially could match her compatriot Ireen Wust, whose 1,500m gold earned a sixth career Olympic title at her fifth and last Games in Beijing.

"This is something I didn't dare to dream about," Schouten said after the final. "My dream was after these Games to be called an Olympic champion, and now I am a three-time champion. I am living the dream."

Ivanie Blondin of Canada finished second just 0.06 seconds back, while Italian skater Francesca Lollobrigida won the bronze.

As the only Chinese woman to complete the final race, veteran Guo Dan, who used to be a professional roller skater, finished 13th overall, three places lower than her ranking at the mass start's Olympic debut at the 2018 Games in the Republic of Korea.

The former roller skating world champion, however, said her Beijing 2022 experience was a career highlight that she wouldn't trade for anything.

"I feel like I've already won by making my way to my home Olympic Games. I am the athlete who values the process over the final outcomes. I've done everything I could along the way, the result wasn't that important for me," said the 31-year-old native of Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

As one of the country's most decorated roller skaters, Guo only began systematic ice skating training after Beijing won the Winter Olympics bid in 2015. Yet her hard work and years of training on roller skates helped her qualify for the Winter Olympics for the first time in 2018.

"I think my experience will pave the way for more athletes to try and shift from one skating event to another. This is a great way to maximize the potential of an athlete's career, and can possibly extend his or her career. If I can, I'll skate into my 50s in either sport," said Guo, who will next prepare for the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou where she will represent China in roller skating.

Sven signs off

In the earlier men's mass start final, Belgium speedster Bart Swings came out from the pack early to lead the race virtually all the way and win his first Olympic gold medal in 7:47.11, improving on his silver medal in the same event at the 2018 Games.

Koreans Chung Jae-won and Lee Seung-hoon finished second and third respectively to complete the podium.

Although finishing last of the 16 skaters in the final race of his career, Dutch legend Sven Kramer signed off full of pride in what he has achieved.

"I didn't think about it too much, but of course people remind you about it," said Kramer, who announced before Beijing 2022 that he would retire after the Games.

"It's not like I will never skate any more, but I will certainly not compete any more. That feels pretty good," laughed the 35-year-old Heerenveen native who has claimed nine Olympic medals, including four gold, from 5,000m, 10,000m and team pursuit.

"I don't think I have to be ashamed of myself. I have achieved great things and had a fantastic career. It feels good to finish it," added Kramer, who finished ninth in his strongest event, the 5,000m. "It has been tough to even qualify for these Games. I would have loved a better ending to my career and I'm a bit sad that didn't really work out here."