Nordic Combined FIS Continental Cup 2020 - 2021 (Klingenthal)

Braathen's move hurts more than just Norway (it's nice for the Brazilian fans I guess, not necesarily so much for the athletes)  But that's another topic, let's mostly keep it to speed skating here  

Yes, like in most places, winters are on average getting less cold, and skating on lakes and such is becoming rare. But no, that won't really affect the number of athletes, indoor skating is too common for that  

Remember Vorviej's face when he lost to Brodka from Poland in the 1500 in 2014 by 0.003 hundredths? Overall, Vorviej looked like some kind of cyborg, not a normal guy, even an athletic one...

I also have a question for the Dutch who live there: are your winters as cold now as they were 20-30 years ago, allowing for outdoor skating: on ice rinks, frozen canals, lakes, etc.? Or is everything now indoors? Could this mean fewer people will participate in this sport in the future?

The Netherlands invests millions in this sport and they have a large pool of athletes. They always need to be at the top and win medals, even if they don't have a phenomenon like Stolz or, once upon a time, Kramer. It's similar with Austria or Switzerland in alpine skiing: thanks to their know-how and significant financial resources, they can turn an average skier like Rast, Holdener, Gisin, etc., into an Olympic/World Championship medalist.    Italy, on the other hand, doesn't have that kind of money, and it hurts even more that we're losing talents like Colturi. It hurts much more than Nor loss of Braathen, because there are another 4 or 5 at his level or slightly under.