SOCHI, Russia - They stepped onto the podium, one after another, teammates and friends, all decked out in the same uniform.
And if there had been room for one more, she would've been wearing orange, too.
The Dutch, you see, are just racing against themselves at the Olympic speedskating oval.
"They're on fire right now," said U.S. coach Ryan Shimabukuro. "They've got all the momentum going in their direction."
The Netherlands has long been a speedskating powerhouse, but the nation of 17 million has never been on a roll like this.
No one has.
All by themselves, the Dutch skaters have pushed their country to the top of the medals table at the Sochi Games. The long-track team already has a record 16 medals, the short trackers have chipped in with one, for a total that left the Netherlands - who haven't won a medal in any other sport - one ahead of the mighty United States and host Russia.
"Our target for the whole team was nine medals for all sports," speedskater Merrit Leenstra said. "This is the best we have ever done in the Winter Olympics."
Just how dominant have the Dutch been at Adler Arena?
They have swept the medals in three of the first eight events, doing it again Sunday in the women's 1,500 meters. Jorien ter Mors claimed the gold with the second-fastest time ever at sea level, giving her a shot at becoming the first skater to win Olympic medals in long and short track. Ireen Wust sounded disappointed with her silver, and Lotte van Beek claimed the bronze by knocking Leenstra out of the third spot in the very last pairing.
It was the first time in Olympic history one country took the top four spots in a speedskating event.