Dutch skater keeping coach despite all-time blunder

RICHMOND, British Columbia - Sven Kramer's trust in his coach can be measured in wins.

"Three times world champion, four times European champion, so many World Cups and Olympic gold in the 5,000 meters," he said.

Kramer was not about to get rid of Gerard Kemkers for one blunder - even if it was one of the biggest in Olympic history.

"The past years were simply too good to drop someone just like that," he said on the morning after Kemkers sent him into the wrong lane as he seemed headed to victory in the 10,000 in his usual dominating style. The error was so rare it defied belief.

Initial anger and recriminations abated during a conversation Tuesday night when both skater and coach reaffirmed their trust in each other.

"Our talk was not easy, but we both came out of it all right. And that is the most important. I am not the kind of person to stay angry too long," Kramer said.

"It happened. It is done with. It is terrible. The medal is in South Korea and we will never get it back," he said, referring to the victory for Lee Seung-hoon after the disqualification.

One day later, Kemkers still had not seen the replays on television. He didn't need to.

"It is burned into my retina," he said.

Kemkers was busy writing speed skating code to show how Kramer's race was progressing more than halfway through the race when, in a split second, he lost his way.

Coaches check changeovers to make sure skaters move inside or out but usually never have to do a thing. Never in his career had Kemkers needed to correct Kramer.

And as Kramer was making a move to go to the outside lane - the correct option - Kemkers thought for the first time his pupil was wrong.

With Kramer approaching the red cone at the end of the changeover, Kemkers desperately pointed him inside with one finger, sending his skater straight into a DQ.

"This is an incident of such proportion that there will be consequences," Kemkers said.