Sport

Bart Swings bags 5th medal in Ostend

Belgium's Bart Swings took a 5th medal at the roller speed skating World Championships in Ostend. Before his home crowd, the Flemish Brabant resident claimed a bronze medal in the marathon, bringing his tally to 5 medals after 4 golds.

Bart Swings came third in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 26.261 seconds, almost 1 minute behind Dutchman Crispijn Ariëns. Peter Michael of New Zealand took the silver. Swings managed to win the bunch sprint to safeguard the bronze. He had ambitions to add another gold to his collection, but was stunned by a surprise attack by the Dutchman. His Belgian team mates tried to keep the peloton together, but couldn't manage.

Swings' 5th medal takes the Belgian tally to 9: 4 times gold, 2 times silver and 3 times bronze. This brings Belgium to third place in the country rankings, behind Colombia (32 golden medals) and Italy. "Belgium is more than just Bart Swings", said Belgium's sports coordinator Herman Laureys. "We also had relay teams that were successful." (photo on top: Swings shows his 5 medals).

Bart Swings is 22 years of age and lives in Herent, near Leuven. He will now focus on his ice skating career, where he hopes to compete with the world's elite next winter.

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