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National coach Jeroen Otter with his golden skaters short track women
Ⓒ René Bouwman
BEIJING – National coach Jeroen Otter was beaming after ‘his’ girls won the first Olympic relay gold ever for the Netherlands. At the same time, his thoughts went back to four years ago when Lara van Ruijven was still there. In 2020, the only 27-year-old short track star was brutally ripped from life. Miraculous bronze was there with her in Pyeongchang (2018), sensational gold now. The fingers of Suzanne Schulting, Yara van Kerkhof, Xandra Velzeboer and Selma Poutsma pointed upwards. Otter looked at it with a lump in his throat, only to let his heart speak not much later.