Britain’s Cornelius Kersten misses out on historic speed skating medal by THREE tenths of a second

Britain’s Cornelius Kersten misses out on historic speed skating medal by THREE tenths of a second… But his ninth place finish is best result by a British Olympic skater in 58 years

  • Cornelius Kersten finished ninth in the men’s 1,000 metres on Friday
  • He was just 0.31 seconds behind bronze medallist Haavard Lorentzen of Norway
  • Kersten’s result is best finish by a British Olympic skate in 58 years
  • The Briton finished 25th in the 500m and 19th in the 1500m at this Olympics


Cornelius Kersten came within three tenths of a second of claiming a remarkable speed skating medal for Great Britain at the Winter Olympics in Beijing on Friday.

The 27-year-old finished in ninth place in the men’s 1000 metres, just 0.31 seconds off third-placed Haavard Lorentzen of Norway, for the best result by a British Olympic speed skater in 58 years.

‘On the one hand I’m really happy but to be that close to the podium is slightly frustrating – those three tenths were really in there,’ said Kersten.

Cornelius Kersten finished ninth in the men’s speed skating 1000 metres on Friday

‘This is the hardest 1000m I’ve ever done and I’m pretty proud of myself but it was so close.

‘I need just another year of hard work and good training to really close that gap, this is my first year training at a world level and look how close I’ve come.”

Kersten and his partner Ellia Smeding were the first speed skaters to represent Great Britain at the Games since 1992. Earlier, he finished 25th in the 500m and 19th in the 1500m.

He was just three tenths of a second behind bronze medallist Haavard Lorentzen of Norway

He was just three tenths of a second behind bronze medallist Haavard Lorentzen of Norway

He added: ‘If you compare me with my rivals, I just need another year to get a lot closer to them.

‘Skaters don’t tend to peak until their late 20s, early 30s, so there is a lot more time for me to develop as we look towards the next Olympics.’