KJELD NUIS of the Netherlands became the first speedskater since 1994 to successfully defend his Olympic title in today’s men’s 1,500m, edging out countryman Thomas Krol at the Beijing Games.

Krol, the reigning world champion, broke the 20-year-old Olympic record in his race — but Nuis went even faster in the very next pair, crossing the line with a blistering time of 1 minute, 43.21 seconds.

There were still three pairs to go, but no-one came close to the Dutch duo. Nuis took his country’s third gold in four events at these games, while Krol’s runner-up finish of 1:43.55 gave the Netherlands a total of six medals in the competition.

The bronze went to South Korea’s Kim Min-Seok, who was more than a second behind the winner in 1:44.24.

Great Britain’s hopes of winning a first medal at the games were dashed in a 9-3 mixed doubles curling defeat to Sweden.

While Italy claimed gold with a 8-5 win over Norway at the Ice Cube, capping a dominant performance for Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini, Brits Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds had to settle for fourth place as Sweden bounced back from a semi-final blowout to dominate Britain 9-3 in six ends in the third-place game.