Olympic champion Schouten: ‘You didn’t make it easy for me’

Also read this interview with Irene Schouten: ‘Eventually you do it for yourself’

But such a status naturally brings pressure with it. On Saturday, as she is resting in bed, it suddenly crosses her mind that she may have peaked too early this season. Was it really that useful to win everything there was to win? And then there are the expectations of the outside world, Schouten told the Dutch press afterwards. “You didn’t make it easy for me last week.”

boring stuff

Schouten is referring to the riot that arose last week when she entered a documentary series from the AD seemed to be negative about Ireen Wüst, one of her teammates during the team pursuit, for which the Netherlands is also a medal candidate. She had been advised beforehand by her coach Jillert Anema to read as little as possible. “But yes, friends sometimes send something. And then you read the headline, which is often worse than the part.”

This has kept Schouten busy in recent days. There was also little else to do in the Olympic village, due to the strict corona measures that host country China has put in place. Sleep, eat, exercise; Schouten thought it was a boring affair. Thanks to her coach, she was able to put it behind her. “She showed today that she is really the best,” Anema says afterwards.

Anema speaks Cruyffian when he tries to explain why Schouten is so good. “You have to be where you are,” he says, meaning that Schouten has come to believe in her own abilities. For a long time she was too careful, she thought a time of four minutes was around her maximum, while her coaches saw in the training that she could be at least five seconds faster.

Until a few years ago, the lack of self-confidence ensured that Schouten performed erratically on the long track. As a seventeen-year-old she already qualified for a World Cup competition, but after that a third place at the World Championship distances in the 5,000 meters in 2016 was the highlight. While Schouten achieved victory after victory at the mass start and in marathon skating, her performance on the ice in the race against the clock remained fickle. She only really got consistently good when she beat her Dutch competitors at the Dutch Championships last season. Since then, the belief in one’s own abilities has been there.

Saturday afternoon, a time of 3.56.93, a new Olympic record, is enough to live up to all expectations. In her slipstream opponent Francesca Lollobrigida from Italy comes in second, Canadian Isabelle Weidemann takes bronze. In the last lap, Schouten throws her arms loose, as if she is starting a sprint on the mass start. Just before the finish, she pushes the air away with her arm, she wants so badly to cross that finish. On the other hand, Anema and assistant coach Arjan Samplonius jump into each other’s arms.

slight panic

After her race, Chinese officials and volunteers swarm around the new Olympic champion like ants. She has to do everything, but it goes in one ear and out the other with the dazed Schouten. When she turns in the center area and walks the other way, the Chinese briefly panic. But Schouten only appears to have forgotten something.

On the podium at the ceremony, the mask is allowed to take off for a while and a big grin becomes visible. Schouten receives a panda bear in a golden wreath, she will receive her medal on Sunday at the Medals Plaza. Ever since she first watched the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in 2002 as a nine-year-old girl, this has been her big dream. Her great example Gretha Smit, who at the time in the US surprisingly won silver in the 5,000 meters, is now over.

And the West Frisian is not yet ready this Games. She also competes in the 5,000 meters, the team pursuit and the mass start. She can also win gold in those parts. “I’m only going to celebrate tonight, tomorrow the focus will be on the five kilometers,” she says. Schouten does not yet know how she will celebrate. She wants to call her boyfriend, talk to her family. But first, take off that skating suit.