Nineteen-year-old Dutchwoman Ireen Wust defeated four-time Olympic champion Claudia Pechstein of Germany Sunday in the 3,000 meters speed skating, brining back home a gold medal in her Olympic debut at the Turin Winter Games.

Her teammate Renate Groenewold added the Netherlands a silver at a time of 4:03.48, 1.05 seconds behind Wust. Pre-race hot favorite, Canada's Cindy Klassen, the current world record holder, ended up with a bronze medal at a time of 4:04.37.

"It was absolutely a surprise. It was unbelievable. I have to pinch myself," Wust laughed when commenting on winning the gold at a press conference after the race.

Wust began skating at age 11. She was pretty unknown prior to today's success. She has no place on the World Cup ranking and her personal best was a 6th place in this season's World Cup women's 1, 500m. She finished 28th in 1,500m for the 2004-2005 World Cup.

She, who skated in the 10th pair, had a powerful push-off from the start and led the race from the first lap.

She said she was very nervous when waiting for the last four pairs of skaters to race, among whom were all the medal hopes, including Groenewold, Klassen, Pechstein, Clara Hughes of Canada, current runner-up in the World Cup standings.

"It was terrible. I was so nervous, I didn't know what to do. I was listening to my music, sitting, standing, talking to anyone. It was so unreal," she said.

In sharp contrast with Wust excitement, her roommate Groenewold was rather bitter on swallowing down her second Olympic silver.

Groenewold, runner-up of the 3,000m in Salt Lake City, has been yearning for turning the silver to gold.

"Right now it is a little disappointing. I wanted to win the gold medal," 30-year-old Groenewold said.

But she said it made her feel better to have been beaten by a team-mate. "It's is better than being beaten by a German or Canadian."

Klassen, Canada's Salt Lake City bronze medallist, has been leading the World Cup standings after four of five races. Despite apparent disappointment, Klassen said she felt "happy" with the result.

"I started out really hard, but I paid for it in the later laps. I just couldn't hold it, but I was lucky enough to hang out for the bronze," she said.

"An Olympic medal is great. I am really happy, but I still have a few more races to go," Klassen was also in the entry lists of women's 1,000m, 1,500m, 5,000m and team pursuit.

Pechstein, Olympic record holder and gold medallist in Salt Lake City, finished fifth in 4:05.54.

Source: Xinhua