BEIJING (REUTERS) - Speed skating great Ireen Wust swept around the Beijing National Speed Skating Oval in a time of 1 minute and 53.28 seconds to win the 1,500 metres at the Winter Games on Monday (Feb 7) and claim her sixth Olympic gold medal.

Wust, the reigning champion, set the pace with an Olympic record time in her race and watched on as world record holder Miho Takagi of Japan failed to match it in the final pair.

Takagi claimed the silver behind Wust for the second successive Olympics in 1:53.72 and Dutchwoman Antoinette de Jong took bronze in 1:54.82.

Wust is the most decorated Dutch Olympian, and adds another gold medal to the five that she has won over four previous Games since her Olympic debut in Turin in 2006.

The 35-year-old has said the Beijing Olympics will be her last before she retires.