The European Championship distances in Heerenveen seem to be a great prelude to the Olympic Games for Irene Schouten. In the team pursuit, the skater from Hoogkarspel drove to the gold together with Ireen Wüst and Antoinette de Jong. On Friday, Schouten already became European champion in the 3,000 meters.
The trio had little competition in Thialf and rode sovereignly to victory. The three skaters drove a flawless race and with a time of 2.54.12 the Dutch even fell below the track record held by Canada.
In Beijing, Schouten, Wüst and De Jong are contenders for Olympic gold. The biggest challengers there will be Canada, which has won all the World Cups this season and reigning Olympic champion Japan.
mass start
Schouten will be in action again today at the European Championship distances. The Hoogkarspelse can continue her triumphal march in the bunch sprint, because there she is considered the favorite.