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Wust wins 3000m Sochi Games gold

  • Irene Wust of the Netherlands reacts after her women's 3000 meters speed skating race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
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    Irene Wust of the Netherlands reacts after her women's 3000 meters speed skating race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

    Irene Wust of the Netherlands reacts after her women's 3000 meters speed skating race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
    Reuters
  • Irene Wust of the Netherlands celebrates after realising she has won the women's 3000 meters speed skating event during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Issei Kato
    2/8

    Irene Wust of the Netherlands celebrates after realising she has won the women's 3000 meters speed skating event during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

    Irene Wust of the Netherlands celebrates after realising she has won the women's 3000 meters speed skating event during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Issei Kato
    Reuters
  • Irene Wust of the Netherlands reacts after realising she has won the women's 3000 meters speed skating event during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
    3/8

    Irene Wust of the Netherlands reacts after realising she has won the women's 3000 meters speed skating event during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

    Irene Wust of the Netherlands reacts after realising she has won the women's 3000 meters speed skating event during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
    Reuters
  • Irene Wust of the Netherlands skates during the women's 3,000 metres speed skating race at the Adler Arena during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
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    Irene Wust of the Netherlands skates during the women's 3,000 metres speed skating race at the Adler Arena during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

    Irene Wust of the Netherlands skates during the women's 3,000 metres speed skating race at the Adler Arena during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
    Reuters
  • Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic reacts after her women's 3000 meters speed skating race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
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    Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic reacts after her women's 3000 meters speed skating race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

    Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic reacts after her women's 3000 meters speed skating race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
    Reuters
  • Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic skates during the women's 3,000 metres speed skating race at the Adler Arena during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
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    Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic skates during the women's 3,000 metres speed skating race at the Adler Arena during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

    Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic skates during the women's 3,000 metres speed skating race at the Adler Arena during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
    Reuters
  • Olga Graf of Russia reacts after her women's 3000 meters speed skating race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Issei Kato
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    Olga Graf of Russia reacts after her women's 3000 meters speed skating race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

    Olga Graf of Russia reacts after her women's 3000 meters speed skating race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Issei Kato
    Reuters
  • Russia's Olga Graf holds up her national flag and celebrates after finishing in third place during the women's 3,000 metres speed skating race at the Adler Arena during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
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    Russia's Olga Graf holds up her national flag and celebrates after finishing in third place during the women's 3,000 metres speed skating race at the Adler Arena during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

    Russia's Olga Graf holds up her national flag and celebrates after finishing in third place during the women's 3,000 metres speed skating race at the Adler Arena during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
    Reuters
Irene Wust of the Netherlands reacts after her women's 3000 meters speed skating race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
Irene Wust of the Netherlands celebrates after realising she has won the women's 3000 meters speed skating event during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Irene Wust of the Netherlands reacts after realising she has won the women's 3000 meters speed skating event during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
Irene Wust of the Netherlands skates during the women's 3,000 metres speed skating race at the Adler Arena during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic reacts after her women's 3000 meters speed skating race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic skates during the women's 3,000 metres speed skating race at the Adler Arena during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
Olga Graf of Russia reacts after her women's 3000 meters speed skating race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Russia's Olga Graf holds up her national flag and celebrates after finishing in third place during the women's 3,000 metres speed skating race at the Adler Arena during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
Patrick Johnston

By Patrick Johnston SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Irene Wust upset defending champion Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic to win the women's 3,000 metre Olympic title on Sunday and hand the Dutch their second speedskating gold of the Sochi Games. Wust clocked four minutes, 0.34 seconds over the seven-and-a-half laps at the Adler Arena in the 13th of 14 heats to eclipse the previous best mark set by Sablikova by 1.6 seconds. Olga Graf, skating in the 10th heat and roared on by a passionate home crowd, finished a surprise third with a time of 4:03.47 to give hosts Russia their first medal of the Sochi Games. Graf punched the air in delight upon realising her time but her expression turned to slight embarrassment shortly after as she unzipped her suit to the waist before suddenly realising and grabbing the zip edges to protect her modesty. That mark was first beaten by Sablikova, wearing eye catching gold blades, and the slight Czech threw her hands in the air upon crossing the line with a strong finish. Wust, with her finger nails painted red, blue and white in the colour of the Dutch flag, made a blistering start in the next heat to move almost three seconds under Sablikova's time before hanging on in the closing stages. It was her third Olympic gold medal following her success at the event in the 2006 Turin Games. She also won gold in the shorter 1500m race in Vancouver four years ago. Wust's victory followed that of compatriot Sven Kramer in the opening speedskating event of the Sochi Games, the men's 5,000m on Saturday. Germany's Claudia Pechstein, 41, finished fourth and failed to add to her record nine speedskating Olympic medals. (Reporting by Patrick Johnston; Editing by Peter Rutherford)