Speed Skating Discussion | Qualification to Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026

[copravolley 644]

2 minutes ago, NearPup said:

Bloemen is an interesting case because he was genuinely not going to get anywhere in the Netherlands. It seems like he needed to be a big fish in a small(et) pound. He’s been pretty open about how moving to Canada basically saved his career.

Looking at their internal qualifications, it doesn't surprise me... Although in the USA they also have their own trials, and they're probably even more brutal than in Ned.

[NearPup 4,184]

4 minutes ago, copravolley said:

Looking at their internal qualifications, it doesn't surprise me... Although in the USA they also have their own trials, and they're probably even more brutal than in Ned.

I mean, Canada also has its own trials and they are about as competitive as the US trials. The Dutch trials are absolutely the most competitive ones in the world by far fwiw.

 

But both the US and Canada have more centralized and relaxed training environments than the Netherlands. That’s something  Carlijn Schoutens talked about too.

Edited December 29, 2025 by NearPup

[copravolley 644]

3 minutes ago, NearPup said:

I mean, Canada also has its own trials and they are about as competitive as the US trials.

 

But both the US and Canada have more centralized and relaxed training environments than the Netherlands. That’s something  Carlijn Schoutens talked about too.

In your opinion, is this trials system good or bad? What if it were abolished and people were given the chance to qualify through the World Cup, or, say, the earlier World Championships? A gold medalist would then have more free decision and could only aim for top form at the Olympics, not on trails in December.

Edited December 29, 2025 by copravolley

[phelps 8,730]

6 hours ago, heywoodu said:

A bit of context: he was already quite a big talent, steadily improving (13:10 debut 10k last year for example), but had a bad accident this summer. During a training camp in Andorra, he was cycling and went downhill, when a car was for whatever reason making a 180 in the middle of a turn, which he could simply not avoid anymore (especially on the wet road). Broke several vertebrae, back injury, etc, spent three days in hospital there and still in September he could only do indoor cycling as training. Then he had good national championships in October, especially given the circumstances, but he was nowhere near fully fit yet, which he now certainly seems to be  

thanks for the info

well, I guess he already paid a tough prize to bad luck, so I wish him all the best (but to finish the next races behind the Italians, especially at the Olympic Games )

surely, he'll be one of the main skaters to watch in the future

[copravolley 644]

5 minutes ago, phelps said:

thanks for the info

well, I guess he already paid a tough prize to bad luck, so I wish him all the best (but to finish the next races behind the Italians, especially at the Olympic Games )

surely, he'll be one of the main skaters to watch in the future

Is Ghiotto retiring after these Olympics?

[phelps 8,730]

5 minutes ago, copravolley said:

Is Ghiotto retiring after these Olympics?

I have no idea, but I hope he won't

he's still good enough to continue (if he can stay healty)

[copravolley 644]

7 minutes ago, phelps said:

I have no idea, but I hope he won't

he's still good enough to continue (if he can stay healty)

After 2006, Fabris was never as so good again... But Fabris also never had such successes outside the 2006 Olympics than the current Ghiotto...

Edited December 29, 2025 by copravolley

[JockCartier 311]

4 hours ago, copravolley said:

In your opinion, is this trials system good or bad? What if it were abolished and people were given the chance to qualify through the World Cup, or, say, the earlier World Championships? A gold medalist would then have more free decision and could only aim for top form at the Olympics, not on trails in December.

I think it depends on the sport. 

 

On one hand, I admire the meritocracy of trials for Dutch speed skating or US athletics... but I don't think it's necessarily a recipe for optimal results forcing athletes to run the gauntlet at incredibly competitive trials, then turn around and try to peak again in short order at the Olympics. 

It's something Canada does for our curling teams, and I think it's been a big part of the reason we've underperformed internationally more than one would expect. The successes we've had I feel are largely in spite of the qualification system, not because of it. Granted curling is a much different sport, but in it's case and it were up to me, I'd do like Sweden or GB, select the team the prior season then let them properly plan their seasons around the Olympics and preparing properly... rather than needing to peak for trials, and pouring whomever survives onto a plane for the Olympics a few weeks later

For speedskating, I like the Canadian system. It's a mix of international results and trials. The medal contenders largely have their spots sewn up, so trials are a none-issue... and the rest are mostly just making up the numbers, so a heavier weighting on trials results is fair enough as no one else in that situation has done enough to solidify their position prior, so might as well play the hot hand. The Dutch having such incredible depth would obviously need to set the pre-qualification bar higher, but I don't think it would hurt them. But then again, their entire system is build around performance on demand... and that's produced great results, even if a few Ted-Jan Bloeman's wash out along the way

Edited December 30, 2025 by JockCartier

[Noorderling29 238]

10 hours ago, copravolley said:

And is the current Ned men's team coached by an athlete who competed in the 2002 OG and won a medal in the 1000 meters, I think? A blond guy with long hair.

Gerard van Velden

[Noorderling29 238]

Joy Beune skating faster than ever in Heerenveen, and realising one of the fastest time ever on that track, but still missing out. Since last year she seemed to have left her reputation of the Nearly woman behind, by winning almost every race. But this is so typical of the old Beune.