Dear fellow sports fans around the world, after four years of waiting, during which you may have watched Olympic Games Replay a thousand times, the Beijing Winter Olympic Games kicked off with the opening ceremony on Friday, February 4.
Beijing and its co-host city, Zhangjiakou, welcomed around 3,000 athletes from 91 teams including, of course, Team Netherlands — blessing us with the best weekend gift and the perfect distraction from school and/or work until February 20 Closing Ceremony. 🔥
Olympic history
As part of the furniture at the Olympic Games, the Netherlands has competed at every Winter Olympics since 1928, with the exception of the 1932 Winter Games in Lake Placid.
Four years ago, Team Netherlands consisting of 33 competitors finished fifth in the medal table at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games with 20 medals — eight gold, six silver and six bronze medals, all won by Dutch skaters. (Yes, we are totally convinced that the Dutch are good at ice skating! 🥽)
Team Netherlands 2022
This time around the Netherlands is being represented by 41 athletes consisting of 21 men and 20 women. They are competing in seven Winter Olympic sports: Alpine skiing, bobsleigh, figure skating, short track speed skating, skeleton, snowboard, and speed skating.
At the 2022 Winter Games, a squad of 29 Dutch skaters — 18 speed skaters, 10 short track speed skaters, and one figure skater — will make conquests at the ice rinks. Now let’s put a spotlight on three Dutch skaters, who are participating in figure skating, short track speed skating, and speed skating competitions respectively.
Lindsay van Zundert
It might be hard to believe that Dutch figure skaters have waited for 46 years to qualify again for the Winter Olympics, but finally, Lindsay van Zundert, a 17-year-old girl is the first and only Dutch figure skater to take part in the Winter Games since Dianne de Leeuw in 1976.
To top it all, Lindsay marched as a co-flagbearer along with speed skater Kjeld Nuis for the Netherlands at the opening ceremony. 🍊
The most memorable moment from van Zundert’s career so far was the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm, where she scored 57.72 in the short program and a new personal best of 116.78 in the free skate and finished 16th overall.
Although she failed to qualify for the free skate and finished 27th at the European Championships this past January, we still have every reason to believe this promising young woman will give her best performance at the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Suzanne Schulting
Whether or not you keep abreast of short track speed skating events, you’ve probably heard of this name — Suzanne Schulting, a dominant force in the sport and the queen of short track speed skating.
Four years ago, Schulting brought the first short track speed skating Olympic gold medal to the Netherlands with her victory in Women’s 1000m. You may want to avoid counting how many medals she has won so far in the past years as this takes time. 🏅
Last year alone, Schulting completed a clean sweep of gold medals from all the individual races she attended at the 2021 European Championships and 2021 World Championships.
For the 2022 Winter Olympics, she is aiming for “Olympic champion in at least one distance, maybe more” and “maybe two gold medals or three gold medals. At least one.”
Ireen Wüst
Sixteen years ago in Turin, the 19-year-old Ireen Wüst became the Netherlands’ youngest ever Olympic champion. Now with 11 Olympic medals and 44 medals at world level, Wüst is already one of the most accomplished athletes in the history of speed skating, but she clearly wants to achieve more. ⛸️
This 35-year-old skater is making her fifth Olympic appearance at the 2022 Games, with an ambition to “set a world record and win a fifth consecutive gold medal.”
Although in the face of competition from younger speed skaters in the past few years, Wüst still managed to secure an Olympic berth. She is competing in the Women’s 1000m, 1500m and team pursuit. Let’s wait and see what this legend can achieve in Beijing.
As we continue to witness Dutch skaters shine at Beijing 2022, don’t miss out on their latest and greatest accomplishments by following their Olympic profiles!✨ For a full list of all the Winter Olympics events, including those of Team NL, you can check out the Olympic Games schedule through their official website.
Are you eagerly following Dutch athletes’ during 2022 Winter Olympics as much as we are? Tell us in the comments below!
Feature Image: vverve/Depositphotos
