“I think that is a shame,” said Schouten, who made her return to the marathon ice at the beginning of this month after a pregnancy. “Jillert has been my coach for ten years. I was on the road with him two hundred days a year. I saw him as a kind of father.”
Earlier, Anema was critical of Schouten’s choice to ride her first marathon two months after the birth of her son. The coach did not like that and did not want to register her, after which Schouten chose to drive in a neutral black suit.
“The break has nothing to do with that. We have a different vision,” said Schouten, who decided to end her skating career a year ago, before her pregnancy. She still has a contract with De Ploeg until April 2026. There is no question of a return to the Langebaan.