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Netherlands' Joep Wennemars reacts after his race during the speed skating men's 1000 m competition of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Peter Kneffel/dpa
The father of Dutch speed skater Joep Wennemars broke an Olympic volunteer's glasses with a euphoric kiss during his celebrations after his son's Olympic record on Thursday, television footage showed.
As the 23-year-old posted the provisional best time over 1,500 metres to the cheers of many travelling Oranje fans, Erben Wennemars could not control himself in the stands.
The 50-year-old ran up and down the steps in joy and then kissed a man he did not seem to know on the face, only to break the volunteer's glasses in the process. The volunteer did not look best pleased.
The dad, a former speed skating world champion and double bronze medallist at the 2006 Winter Games himself, looked shocked when he realized what had happened.
It got worse for the Wennemars family on the ice as three skaters overtook the Dutchman.
China’s Ning Zhongyan took gold with a new Olympic record of 1 minute 41.98 seconds, US star Jordan Stolz finished second and Wennemars' compatriot Kjeld Nuis took bronze.
Joep Wennemars said after his fourth place: "It is like watching a bad movie. Nothing goes my way. I skated a good race with an Olympic record. I had to do it solo and probably skated my best race of my career, my fastest low-altitude time ever. It is a shame it has to end like this."
A few days earlier over 1,000m, he had been on course for a medal when the Chinese skater Lian Ziwen, who was later disqualified, impeded him on the track.
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