Sochi Olympics: Dominance begins: Netherlands sweeps men's 5,000 - by Paul Myerberg

Gold - Silver and Bronze for the Netherlands

In the world of men's speed skating — and in the long-distance races in particular — the rest of the world is chasing the Netherlands, a country that views Olympic dominance as a quadrennial birthright.

Theirs is a skating powerhouse that stems in large part from the Netherlands' devotion to the sport. While soccer rules on sunny days, speed skating occupies the country's undivided attention throughout the winter, and during Olympic years in particular.

But perhaps never in its skating history have the Dutch experienced a day quite like Saturday, when a trio of skaters completed a clean sweep of the medal podium in the 5,000 meters

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