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

[copravolley 657]

Ghiotto needs to have something extra for February - otherwise it will be bad - this season has been very bad for him, but I believe in magia f Marchetto - he has never disappointed at a major event since 2006.

[NearPup 4,188]

2 hours ago, Noorderling29 said:

8 years ago Dai Dai Ntab was the favorite to qualify, but was disqualified after false starting.

4 years ago he finished third, but was dropped for Kramer who was needed in the Team Pursuit.

This week he is unable to start because of illness. He was not favored to qualify, but given his age (31) It seems unlikely he will get another chance

Genuinely tragic he never got to go to the Olympics :<

[Noorderling29 238]

Tomorrow:  500 metres men, 3.000 metres women (with Groenewoud - Beune in the final pairing).

[Noorderling29 238]

16 hours ago, Gianlu33 said:

A terrible day for Roest, who was definitely not in good shape.

In his interview he stated that after two years they still have no idea what causes his fall in form. His races are very steady, with no real drop-off in his times, but he just can’t find the speed. 

[heywoodu 16,475]

On 12/26/2025 at 3:44 PM, Noorderling29 said:

Given the body language of Schulting and her coach after her run, they clearly did not expect her time to be enough.

 

EDIT: she just confirms this in her interview.

Makes it extra tragic that she's still quite likely to not actually make it due to Leerdam most likely making it anyway despite falling...seems like everyone there just automatically assumed her 2nd place will be enough and started celebrating 

 

Edited December 27, 2025 by heywoodu

[TeamGB 216]

25 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

Makes it extra tragic that she's still quite likely to not actually make it due to Leerdam most likely making it anyway despite falling...seems like everyone there just automatically assumed her 2nd place will be enough and started celebrating 

 

Could they give Leerdam a place in the 1000 at Milan if she qualifies through the 500? And surely Vekerk would be the one to lose out rather than Schulting?

[heywoodu 16,475]

4 minutes ago, TeamGB said:

Could they give Leerdam a place in the 1000 at Milan if she qualifies through the 500? And surely Vekerk would be the one to lose out rather than Schulting?

They're very likely going to give Leerdam a 1000m spot no matter if she qualifies in another distance or not. A skater who is picked like that would, in the 'matrix', be placed in the first spot for that distance, which would push Schulting to the spot for 3rd place in the 1000m. That's the 15th and last spot on the matrix, and would mean she is out if there are more than 8 different skaters above that position. 

 

Verkerk has, realistically speaking, no chance at all of going to the Olympics (unless by a miracle she qualifies for the 500m).

Edited December 27, 2025 by heywoodu

[TeamGB 216]

Just now, heywoodu said:

They're very likely going to give Leerdam a 1000m spot no matter if she qualifies in another distance or not. A skater who is picked like that would, in the 'matrix', be placed in the first spot for that distance, which would push Schulting to the spot for 3rd place in the 1000m. That's the 15th and last spot on the matrix, and would mean she is out if there are more than 8 different skaters above that position. 

Ahh Makes sense. I always find it frustrating when selection policies don't account for circumstances like that, even if countries have such strength in depth. For what it's worth, I ran a simulation today which has Schulting making it, but honestly there's so many variables take it with a pinch of salt.

 

Event	Skater	Qualifying Rank
500m 1	Kok	1
1500m 1	Beune	2
Mass Start	Grounewoud	3
3000m 1	Conijn	4
1000m 1	Kok
5000m 1	Conijn
1000m 2	Leerdam	5
5000m 2	Beune
1500m 2	Rijpma De Jong	6
3000m 2	Beune
500m 2	Leerdam
500m 3	Fledderus	7
3000m 3	Grounewoud
1500m 3	Daleman	8
1000m 3	Schulting	9

Interestingly, if you put it back to the current matrix Vekerk would not qualify, making it an easy choice for the 1000m.

 

Guarantee someone will through a spanner in the works before then though. 

[Noorderling29 238]

Two Rounds of 500 metres, the fastest time counts

[Noorderling29 238]

Once again, high air pressure, so really fast times unlikely