The Netherlands' previous record stood at 8 gold medals, but was already broken after 40-year-old Jorrit Bergsma won the men's mass start earlier on Saturday. Groenewoud hadn't won an Olympic gold medal before, with the silver medal in this year's team pursuit her top result.
A final filled with top skaters, including world champion Marijke Groenewoud, Francisca Lollobrigida, Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais, and Mia Manganello, got off to a quick start that left no one with a second of peace. Maltais had to make up ground early after a fall, costing the Canadian a lot of energy in this tactical event.
Belgium's Sandrine Tas pulled the pack upward and escaped with five laps to go, taking Switzerland's Kaitlyn McGregor with her, but gave up after grabbing the sprint points, leaving the initiative to Marijke Groenewoud.
The Dutch ace started the final sprint with a lap to go and stayed ahead of Ivanie Blondin and Mia Maganello, winning the Netherlands its tenth gold medal of the Milan-Cortina Games, the most successful in the country's history.
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