CCB

"2. Netherlands will be off from previous speed skating highs"
 
For sure, only in some women's events we can win gold medals, but I'm afraid won't even make the top 8 this time. But I like to be surprised by the short trackers, so who knows, maybe it will still work out well.

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. 
 

The Netherlands is just lucky. I hope there's nothing more to it. Norway and the Netherlands have such an advantage in some sports that I'd like to take a closer look at them – after all, there was already a controversy over Bjoergen's asthma medication.

That's actually a good way to remind me why nobody should be obsessed with the medal table.

What a race, what an Olympics, 5 gold medals, damn  
 
Itzhak de Laat is Olympic champion, I'm gonna read that sentence 52 more times to make sure it's true  

Happy Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong finally has her gold.
 
Also extremely happy with Maltais’ bronze. It is a nice surprise. Keeps my streak of seeing Canadian medals at every event I’ve attended intact for now (women’s 3000m relay in short track, men’s 500m in short track, women’s ice hockey finals) with two more to go in Milan.
 
As a side note, now that I’ve attended the Olympics I can’t believe we ever did victory plaza. Having the medals presented right after the event is so special. 

Oh no, how unfortunate for Italy

Individual sweep for still on, 4th gold for Netherlands 

Man, dutch kids are really into skating 
 
Listen to me finally and Try hockey you weirdos ! you´ll see you´ll be good

Sighel did it again 

I'm very relieved because the 3000m relay final should be (if everything goes well) the first Olympic final I ever watch in person.

I was in the shorttrack-arena in Milan last Thursday. Still unbelievable what happened there. Two gold medals for  in just 15 minutes time. I expected Velzeboer, but Van 't Wout: wow!
 
I will never forget this historical evening for Dutch shorttrack.
Now back home and watching tonight's shorttrack from the couch.

I was in the shorttrack-arena in Milan last Thursday. Still unbelievable what happened there. Two gold medals for  in just 15 minutes time. I expected Velzeboer, but Van 't Wout: wow!
 
I will never forget this historical evening for Dutch shorttrack.
Now back home and watching tonight's shorttrack from the couch.

I was in the shorttrack-arena in Milan last Thursday. Still unbelievable what happened there. Two gold medals for  in just 15 minutes time. I expected Velzeboer, but Van 't Wout: wow!
 
I will never forget this historical evening for Dutch shorttrack.
Now back home and watching tonight's shorttrack from the couch.

I was in the shorttrack-arena in Milan last Thursday. Still unbelievable what happened there. Two gold medals for  in just 15 minutes time. I expected Velzeboer, but Van 't Wout: wow!
 
I will never forget this historical evening for Dutch shorttrack.
Now back home and watching tonight's shorttrack from the couch.

First gold, medal, and double podium for  in speed skating, took you guys long enough  

Congrats  and  !

This should be the first medal for those weird dutch, who loves skating without pucks and loves playing hockey with a ball 

I was in the shorttrack-arena in Milan last Thursday. Still unbelievable what happened there. Two gold medals for  in just 15 minutes time. I expected Velzeboer, but Van 't Wout: wow!
 
I will never forget this historical evening for Dutch shorttrack.
Now back home and watching tonight's shorttrack from the couch.

miracle on ice, part II
I'm crying...
what an amazing present for her 35th birthday (which is today)

I was in the shorttrack-arena in Milan last Thursday. Still unbelievable what happened there. Two gold medals for  in just 15 minutes time. I expected Velzeboer, but Van 't Wout: wow!
 
I will never forget this historical evening for Dutch shorttrack.
Now back home and watching tonight's shorttrack from the couch.

I was in the shorttrack-arena in Milan last Thursday. Still unbelievable what happened there. Two gold medals for  in just 15 minutes time. I expected Velzeboer, but Van 't Wout: wow!
 
I will never forget this historical evening for Dutch shorttrack.
Now back home and watching tonight's shorttrack from the couch.

I was in the shorttrack-arena in Milan last Thursday. Still unbelievable what happened there. Two gold medals for  in just 15 minutes time. I expected Velzeboer, but Van 't Wout: wow!
 
I will never forget this historical evening for Dutch shorttrack.
Now back home and watching tonight's shorttrack from the couch.

Congratulations. You’ve supported the only two who did not win a medal.

My schedule in Milan:
 
February 8th
Figure skating mixed competition
 
February 9th
Speedskating 1000 m women (Jutta )
 
February 10th
Shorttrack mixed relay
 
February 11th
Speedskating 1000 m men
 
February 12th
Speedskating 5000m women
Shorttrack 1000 men / 500 women
 
February 13th
Back home and tv on!

Dutch Medal Prospects 
 
Speed skating
Recently, it was reported that the Dutch soeed skaters along with the Canadian and Italian skaters will wear a suit that has been developed to gain an advantage of up to 5-8% compared to previously used suits. I'm usually skeptical, but some skaters who wore the prototype of this suit to the Olympic Qualifiers managed to cause a big surprise with Van de Bunt qualifying twice out of nowhere, and Schulting, Snel and Diniz also wear this suit and surprisingly qualified. It's simply impossible to expect the same success as 2022, but of course The Netherlands should get a good amount of medals here.
 
500m (M) - A medal is very much possible, but not gold. De Boo would be the biggest medal contender, although he was out of form in the most recent world cup in Inzell. 
1000m (M) - Definitely an okay distance for us, but obviously Stolz would be the clear favourite for gold. One medal should be doable, on a good day even two, but winning no medal would not be too surprising either.
1500m (M) - Not a great distance for us. Nuis and Wennemars are capable of medalling on a good day, but again gold is very unlikely.
5000m (M) - Perhaps our worst distance, but Van de Bunt has been a big surprise in the qualigiers so he's at least a wild card. Chances are very slim however.
10000m (M) - Similar to the 5000m, Van de Bunt is a wild card but with the progression of many others in this discipline I don't see a medal here.
Mass Start (M) - Bergsma has had a couple of good results here, but again Van de Bunt is a wildcard and I'm unsure what the strategy will be. A medal is possible, gold is very difficult.
Team Pursuit (M) - The team barely trained together. With a bit of luck they could scrape bronze, but not too likely.
500m (W) - This should be a win for Kok, with another possible medal for Leerdam.
1000m (W) - Same as the 500m, except Leerdam and Kok switched around. I don't expect Schulting to be in the mix.
1500m (W) - Kok, Groenewoud and Rijpma-De Jong all could medal here, but the competition is tough. 1 or 2 medals, maybe even gold, are on the table, but no medals wouldn't be completely surprising either.
3000m (W) - This is the only distance Beune will skate unfortunately, but together with Groenewoud I see a good chance of a (gold) medal. Wiklund is in the form of her life however, so she is easily the favourite.
5000m (W) - I don't really know what to expect from this distance, Conijn and Kerkhoff are quite inconsistent. A gold medal is not really possible I believe, maybe a bronze might be possible.
Mass Start (W) - With Groenewoud, we have a huge shot at a medal, if not gold here. 
Team Pursuit (W) - I think it's a battle for gold with Canada, but silver should be the minimum.
 
2022 Olympic Games: 6 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze
2026 Olympic Games prediction: 3 Gold, 5 Silver, 4 Bronze
 
Shorttrack
As a massive shorttrack fan (I truly believe it's the best sport to watch in the world), I feel like on paper we could medal in nearly every event, but short track isn't performed on paper but on ice and that makes it very unpredictable. Compared to the last Winter Games, we have medal chances for both Men's and Women's distances.
 
500m (M) - This is probably the distance with the least chance of a medal. J. Van 't Wout lacks the pure pace, although he is one of the few men who are capable of overtaking on these high speeds. Teun Beur could have an outside shot, but only if he manages to start first in the quarters / semis which is a big ask.
1000m (M) - I'd say this is the best distance of J. Van 't Wout. Challenging for a gold medal is difficult, but a medal should be doable. 
1500m (M) - Again, a medal should be possible but gold is less likely than in the 1000m. J. Van 't Wout is the only likely skater to win a medal though.
Relay (M) - A medal is likely, but other countries have more depth. The fourth man is significantly worse than the others, whether it's De Laat or Emons. However, Van 't Wout as a finisher means I still believe a medal is possible, if not likely.
500m (W) - This is the only realistic distance with 2 potential medals. Xandra Velzeboer is the favourite to win, and Selma Poutsma is the fastest starter in the world. Michelle Velzeboer could als make the final. All in all, I could see 2 medals here.
1000m (W) - X. Velzeboer is quite comfortable at this distance, but I don't think she's the favourite. A medal is not realistic, but it's a 50/50 I'd say. I don't believe other women would have a big shot here.
1500m (W) - Interestingly, Suzanne Schulting will take part in the 1500m. Even though she hasn't performed in any international competitions, she is the biggest shot at a medal in my opinion. Still, I don't see a realistic chance of a medal here.
Relay (W) - This is a strong line-up and I expect they will medal, with gold being realistic but definitely not easy.
Mixed relay - Strong medal contenders, if not favourites along with Canada. 

2022 Olympic Games: 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
2026 Olympic Games prediction: 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze
 
Skeleton
SIngle (W) - Last year Bos may have been the favourite, but this year the results have been lacklustre. There is definitely a chance of a medal here, maybe even gold, but it's not very likely.
 
2022 Olympic Games: 1 Bronze
2026 Olympic Games prediction: No medal
 
Snowboarding
Cross (M) - Not a chance of medalling
Slopestyle (W) - Not a chance of medalling
Big AIr (W) - Not a chance of medalling
Parallel (W) - Small chance of medalling here, but not very likely
 
2022 Olympic Games: No medal
2026 Olympic Games prediction: No medal
 
Bobsleigh
2-Man - Not a chance of medalling
4-Man - Not a chance of medalling
 
2022 Olympic Games: No medal
2026 Olympic Games prediction: No medal
 
Figure Skating
Pairs - Not a chance of medalling
 
2022 Olympic Games: No medal
2026 Olympic Games prediction: No medal
 
Final tally
2022 Olympic Games: 8 Gold, 5 Silver, 4 Bronze
2026 Olympic Games prediction: 5 Gold, 7 Silver, 6 Bronze