Speed Skating at the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026

[Noorderling29 238]

11 hours ago, copravolley said:

France was probably 5th in Paris and the Netherlands behind it, but it`s also great results for you.

You’re right. We finished in 6th.

[Federer91 3,390]

13 hours ago, BMOlympics said:

Lol what a nonsense argument to make. That's never what I claimed, and in the alltime medal standings Italy is even lower than the Netherlands so if you're trying to argue Italy is a powerhouse, then that's an invalid argument to make.

 

Besides, what else would you expect The Netherlands to do? There is no snow and there are no mountains which structurally eliminates 70% of medal options with a very rare exception every few games, and there's simply no figure skating or ice hockey culture over here which eliminates another 10% of options. We're simply maximising all our medal possibilities, resulting in consistent performances the last few Olympic cycles. 

 

I will jump here. No country is required to have snow and/or mountains to be good at Winter sports. They will just invest in sending the prospects to train in places where there is snow.

 

We have snow and mountains and still our few athletes have camps around 80% of their season in the Alps, because the conditions, facilities, competition etc. is better. 

 

The Netherlands which is far richer, far more sporting organized and has far more people willing to become elite athletes could set up programs with ease on snow sports. They just don't, because it's not in their culture and not because they don't have the resources/conditions.

[BMOlympics 22]

1 minute ago, Federer91 said:

I will jump here. No country is required to have snow and/or mountains to be good at Winter sports. They will just invest in sending the prospects to train in places where there is snow.

 

We have snow and mountains and still our few athletes have camps around 80% of their season in the Alps, because the conditions, facilities, competition etc. is better. 

 

The Netherlands which is far richer, far more sporting organized and has far more people willing to become elite athletes could set up programs with ease on snow sports. They just don't, because it's not in their culture and not because they don't have the resources/conditions.

And how do you envision there to be any skiing or snowboarding prospects if there is not a single place for them to start practicing from a young age in the first place? Like seriously, what exactly do you suggest, just start sending a bunch of Dutch kids to the Alps in hopes that they become the next winter sports prodigy?

 

Because we are already doing the things you said with a couple of snowboarding athletes that train with other international athletes in the Alps, but the problem is that they 'wasted' the most important years of their development by simply not being surrounded by snow/mountains and being able to train whenever they want, which is a disadvantage that no amount of money can make up for.

[Noorderling29 238]

24 minutes ago, BMOlympics said:

And how do you envision there to be any skiing or snowboarding prospects if there is not a single place for them to start practicing from a young age in the first place? Like seriously, what exactly do you suggest, just start sending a bunch of Dutch kids to the Alps in hopes that they become the next winter sports prodigy?

 

Because we are already doing the things you said with a couple of snowboarding athletes that train with other international athletes in the Alps, but the problem is that they 'wasted' the most important years of their development by simply not being surrounded by snow/mountains and being able to train whenever they want, which is a disadvantage that no amount of money can make up for.

And, a kid with a talent for sports is far more likely to chose a sport we are already succesful in. Because the infrastructure is there and the media coverage is there, so he/she will have been exposed to that sport. A kid is far more likely to chose Judo, where we have (had) considerable success, with a local club almost everywhere than Wrestling, where we have no history whatsoever.

[Federer91 3,390]

29 minutes ago, BMOlympics said:

And how do you envision there to be any skiing or snowboarding prospects if there is not a single place for them to start practicing from a young age in the first place? Like seriously, what exactly do you suggest, just start sending a bunch of Dutch kids to the Alps in hopes that they become the next winter sports prodigy?

 

Because we are already doing the things you said with a couple of snowboarding athletes that train with other international athletes in the Alps, but the problem is that they 'wasted' the most important years of their development by simply not being surrounded by snow/mountains and being able to train whenever they want, which is a disadvantage that no amount of money can make up for.

Dave Ryding didn't train or see snow until he was 12 years old. Even after that he mainly trained on grass until his teenage years and it didn't stop him from becoming one of the elite slalomers and a World Cup winner. 

 

Biathlon and cross-country athletes train 7 months on roller skies. They don't have snow 12 months a year. All the technique, posture, conditioning, balance can be practiced on roller skies before transitioning on snow. 

 

If it's required to send kids to the Alps for training camps for a few weeks than be it. This isn't a sport where some kid wants to play it in their backyard. The Ski Federation puts up a program and it starts seeking children who want to practice snow sports and then organize the trainings. In today's open world no one is training only in their neighborhood club, because it's convenient.

[Faramir 520]

And the exposure and chance of becoming elite in other sports Is limited on purpose (see the ridiculous criteria set by the Dutch NOC for sports they don't like, so you also have very few Olympians). Which is fair when the goal is to minimize the cost per medal ratio in the long term (better not investing in sports where results are more variable) but let's not sell this as "great innovations" that sets apart NED from other countries. 

[BMOlympics 22]

1 minute ago, Federer91 said:

Dave Ryding didn't train or see snow until he was 12 years old. Even after that he mainly trained on grass until his teenage years and it didn't stop him from becoming one of the elite slalomers and a World Cup winner. 

 

Biathlon and cross-country athletes train 7 months on roller skies. They don't have snow 12 months a year. All the technique, posture, conditioning, balance can be practiced on roller skies before transitioning on snow. 

 

If it's required to send kids to the Alps for training camps for a few weeks than be it. This isn't a sport where some kid wants to play it in their backyard. The Ski Federation puts up a program and it starts seeking children who want to practice snow sports and then organize the trainings. In today's open world no one is training only in their neighborhood club, because it's convenient.

You make it seem so easy. Yet, there is not a single country in the world that's structurally successful at skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping etc. without close access to mountains and/or snow. You'd almost think there's more to it than you're suggesting. There is no ski, snowboard or skeeler culture here, which means there are no resources and coaches, which means there is no hope of structural succes unless we spend tens of millions. And why would we, if we can also spend that money in shorttrack and speed skating with guaranteed 15+ medals every time?

[Quasit 955]

18 minutes ago, BMOlympics said:

You make it seem so easy. Yet, there is not a single country in the world that's structurally successful at skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping etc. without close access to mountains and/or snow. You'd almost think there's more to it than you're suggesting. There is no ski, snowboard or skeeler culture here, which means there are no resources and coaches, which means there is no hope of structural succes unless we spend tens of millions. And why would we, if we can also spend that money in shorttrack and speed skating with guaranteed 15+ medals every time?

I can picture the Dutch to pick up more interest bobsleigh and skeleton, as you're more into ice rather than snow.

Winterberg as a training ground wouldn't be far away.

[BMOlympics 22]

6 minutes ago, Quasit said:

I can picture the Dutch to pick up more interest bobsleigh and skeleton, as you're more into ice rather than snow.

Winterberg as a training ground wouldn't be far away.

Yeah that's a comment I can get behind, there is some potential there. Especially considering the British have found a way to be very competitive in multiple ice disciplines

[Noorderling29 238]

45 minutes ago, Faramir said:

And the exposure and chance of becoming elite in other sports Is limited on purpose (see the ridiculous criteria set by the Dutch NOC for sports they don't like, so you also have very few Olympians). Which is fair when the goal is to minimize the cost per medal ratio in the long term (better not investing in sports where results are more variable) but let's not sell this as "great innovations" that sets apart NED from other countries. 

Since the 2020 COVID Games our NOC seems to be little less strict. In 2021 and 2022 I could understand this, given the extra-ordinary circumstances. But both in 2024 and this year the NOC nominated people that in my humble opinion really were not at the required level. I would never want us to send someone like Eddie The Eagle.