Speed Skating at the Winter Olympic Games Beijing 2022

[Belle 975]

2 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

Dutch team will be announced at 17.30 CET, live on TV  

 

The biggest question is which of these eleven names will be left out:

 

Krol
Roest
Nuis
Verbij
Bergsma
Scheperkamp
Otterspeer
Snel
Ntab
Kramer
Bosker

 

Personally I think Ntab and Snel.

Amazing team. Sad for the two out whoever they will be. 

[dcro 10,210]

Surely the Dutch can't win the team pursuit with or without Bosker? USA are the favorites, right?

 

If so, then Snel could and really should take them to court if they select Bosker...

[heywoodu 15,135]

11 minutes ago, dcro said:

Surely the Dutch can't win the team pursuit with or without Bosker? USA are the favorites, right?

 

If so, then Snel could and really should take them to court if they select Bosker...

I wouldn't say that so easily. There has been only one team pursuit this season where the Dutch did not start with a random selection of riders put together to form a B/C-team, and they won that one (and were significantly faster than the USA's top team, including Mantia, in the B group).

 

No way Snel has a chance in court, if he'd try to defend his potential 8th place or something against a potential gold medal chance. No matter how you look at it, Roest - Kramer - Bosker form a team which has way, way, way more of a medal chance than Snel in the 1500m.

 

Which is nothing against Snel by the way, I feel sad for him if he doesn't make it, but if they go for medal potential above anything else, they really should select Bosker over him.

[Dennis 712]

Kramer and Bosker in. Ntab and Snel out.
 

Bosker will skate the team pursuit and 1.500m. Kramer will skate the team pursuit, mass start (!) and 5k. Krol will replace Ntab and will therefore skate the 500, 1.000 and 1.500m. 

[Dennis 712]

 

[heywoodu 15,135]

Sad for Ntab and Snel, but yeah....this is the result of a system like this and simply having too much quality overall  

 

Although the reason for Kramer's mass start selection is somewhat laughable, to say the least: "A big name like Kramer entering the Olympic mass start might 'startle' the other riders."

 

Sure. Granddad without his final sprint will surely scare the likes of Swing, Giovannini, Chung, Lee or Mantia  

[monte88 17]

28 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

Sad for Ntab and Snel, but yeah....this is the result of a system like this and simply having too much quality overall  

 

Although the reason for Kramer's mass start selection is somewhat laughable, to say the least: "A big name like Kramer entering the Olympic mass start might 'startle' the other riders."

 

Sure. Granddad without his final sprint will surely scare the likes of Swing, Giovannini, Chung, Lee or Mantia  

We also send a Grandad with great hopes - Zbigniew Bródka.  He's older than Kramer.

[NearPup 3,045]

2 hours ago, heywoodu said:

Sad for Ntab and Snel, but yeah....this is the result of a system like this and simply having too much quality overall  

 

Although the reason for Kramer's mass start selection is somewhat laughable, to say the least: "A big name like Kramer entering the Olympic mass start might 'startle' the other riders."

 

Sure. Granddad without his final sprint will surely scare the likes of Swing, Giovannini, Chung, Lee or Mantia  

Watch Kramer win the mass start from a speculative breakaway just to mess with all of us.

[heywoodu 15,135]

43 minutes ago, NearPup said:

Watch Kramer win the mass start from a speculative breakaway just to mess with all of us.

If Kramer goes into the breakaway, it'll be curious to see if he can stay ahead of the Bergsma-led chase  

[heywoodu 15,135]

I love Dutch speed skating. Now Roest is pissed because they put Bosker in the 1500m instead of him  (since Bosker had to do an individual event in order to be eligible for the team pursuit....which could and arguably should have been the mass start, but they gave that spot to Kramer to 'scare' the competition )

 

Roest, Bosker and Kramer are all actual teammates, mind you. And Bergsma's coach is also pissed because the second mass start spot wasn't automatically given to one of his riders a year before the Olympics (Arjan Stroetinga).