If you’ve never watched a Winter Olympics in the Netherlands before, it can feel like stepping into a two-dimensional parallel universe. While the rest of the world is enthralled by athletes hurtling down mountainsides on skis,

Racing in the last of the competition's 15 pairs to get on the ice, Jutta Leerdam claimed a gold medal and broke the Olympic record in the 1,000-meter speedskating final.

Kok took the silver medal, a little more than a quarter of a second behind, in 1:12.59 — also quicker than the 1:13.19 Takagi skated to defeat Leerdam at the Beijing Games and record the previous best...