Swings hopes that Belgium will get a 400 meter track after its gold

Bart Swings, the Olympic speed skating champion at the mass start, hopes that his success at the Winter Games can contribute to the arrival of the 400-meter ice rink so desired by Belgian skaters. The country does not have an accommodation where long track speed skating can be practiced.

Swings and the other Belgian medalist in Beijing, short track star Hanne Desmet, who won bronze in the 1000 meters, train in Heerenveen. Swings is part of the Dutch Team IKO, Desmet trains with the Dutch short track team and is good friends with Suzanne Schulting.

“After the Pyeongchang Games in 2018, I also made a strong case for getting a job like this in Belgium,” Swings told news agency Belga. “After the performances of both me and Hanne Desmet, I would be surprised if the track does not come. If, in addition to a 400-meter track, you also had a high-quality short track track in Belgium, you can take two sports to a higher level.”

Dream

Moreover, Belgium is very satisfied with the Dutch facilities. “We are very happy with the cooperation we have in the Netherlands. We learn from that,” says former skater Jeroen Straathof, who is top sports boss at the Flemish Skating Union. “But our biggest dream is to get a new accommodation for long track speed skating. From the union we do everything for that, but in the end it is also a political and financial decision. We must structurally get more children on the ice. We do already happen at the clubs. But there is a big gap with the next step, training a 10-year-old to participate in a major tournament eight years later. A 400 meter track would help with this,” said Straathof.