Speed Skater Thinks He Lost A Gold Medal By Less Than 0.1 Seconds, Freaks Out When The Decision Is Reversed

Paul Gilham/Getty ImagesMichel Mulder at the medal ceremony.

Dutch speed skater Michel Mulder went through a rollercoaster of emotions during a chaotic ending to the men's 500m on Monday.

After initially thinking he'd been bumped off the top of the podium by Johannes Smeekens in the final heat of the event, a photo review gave him the gold medal by 0.012 seconds.

Mulder was in first place with a time of 69.31 seconds going into the final heat. When Smeekens crossed the finish line, the unofficial results board flashed 69.31 seconds with a #1 next to it, indicating that his time was faster than Mulder's.

Mulder thought he'd been bumped to silver:

NBC

Disappointment:

NBC

But an official photo finish revised Smeekens' time to 0.012 seconds lower than Mulder's:

NBC

Mulder saw the new result on the big screen:

NBC

And then it set it in that he'd won gold after all:

NBC

He proceeded to go nuts:

NBC

NBC

NBC

On the other end of the spectrum, Smeekens thought he'd won gold immediately after the race:

NBC

And then was crushed when his time was changed:

NBC

Insanely close:

Google