2018 Winter Olympics: Nervous New Zealand speed skaters 'fortunate' qualify for semifinals after struggling on warmer ice OLIVIA CALDWELLSKY SPORTNZ speed skaters advance to the men's team pursuit semifinals despite losing their quarterfinal to Norway. The New Zealand speed skating team have qualified for Wednesday's Winter Olympic Games semifinals despite their "worst run" in recent experience. "It's definitely the [worst] run we've done in a couple of weeks, more than likely it was just the nerves," Dobbin said. They will face top qualifiers Republic of Korea (3:39.29s) in Semi Final 1 on Wednesday. The Republic of Korea set the bar with 3.39.29 and toppled world heavyweights the Netherlands, who rounded out the heats with 3.40.03.

Source: Stuff February 18, 2018 11:48 UTC