Suzanne Schulting screams and puts her hand over her mouth. This is followed by a group hug on the boarding of the short track track in Beijing. There is something to celebrate. Led by Schulting, champion in the 1,000 meters, the Netherlands conquers gold in the women’s relay race, ahead of South Korea and China.
The Dutch foursome with Schulting, Selma Poutsma, Yara van Kerkhof and Xandra Velzeboer was the top favorite in advance. The Netherlands is the reigning world champion and was by far the fastest in the semifinals on Wednesday. They showed confidence in their racing approach.
The team segment over 3 kilometers, 27 laps of 111 meters, was quite chaotic as always. The audience, exclusively Beijing residents who had come to the Capital Indoor Stadium by invitation, was naturally in favor of China. Despite a cheering ban, they made themselves heard.
Poutsma, who can start very quickly, took charge of the first round and immediately took the lead. That place demands a lot of strength and stamina, but also kept the Dutch out of trouble. The pushing and pulling took place behind their backs.
With ten laps to go, China briefly passed, but the Netherlands recovered and then Schulting took distance from the field. The lead was closed by China, but Velzeboer then created another gap and with two laps to go Schulting was free and freed from anyone to drive to the gold. South Korea and Canada followed at an appropriate distance. The home drivers finished fourth.
Despite their favorite troll, the Dutch women rode in the relay final for the first time in Olympic short track history in Beijing. Four years ago at the Games in South Korea, the Dutch relay team took third place with Schulting, Van Kerkhof, Jorien ter Mors and Lara van Ruijven, who passed away in 2020. They then achieved the bronze thanks to the victory in the B-final and two disqualifications in the A-final.
In an earlier version of this article, it was stated that the Dutch squad finished ahead of South Korea and Canada. That’s incorrect, it should be: South Korea and China.