Did Suzanne Schulting say ‘yes!’ yelled or ‘fuck yeah!’ when she slid across the finish line? She didn’t know anymore. What she did know was that she was overjoyed to have reached the final of the 3,000 meter relay race with her three teammates. Never before have the women reached the Olympic final.
The way in which they qualified for next Sunday’s battle for medals was perhaps the most satisfying for the quartet Schulting, Selma Poutsma, Xandra Velzeboer and Yara van Kerkhof. They were never in danger in their ride against Poland, Italy and China.
That was also the intention in the often chaotic-looking discipline, with many rider changes and unexpected crashes. The Dutch women wanted to send out a signal. “You want to play the monkey on the monkey rock a bit and show that we are the best as a team,” said Schulting afterwards.
She makes it clear enough in her individual races that Schulting has that quality. But the others also feel that in a team. Poutsma: ‘When the four of us step onto the ice, we are all one very big monkey.’
Well-aimed push
There is no part that summarizes the short track track as well as the relay race. The four national teams swirl around each other on the 111-meter track. One skater per country always participates in the competition, who is relieved every few laps by a fellow countryman. That happens with a well-aimed push. The women complete a total of 27 laps (3,000 meters), the men 45 (5,000 meters).
Italy lost early in the semifinals. That had more to do with the ice quality than with the hectic pace of the race. Just before that, the 1,500 meters of the men had been run, where Itzhak de Laat did not make it through the quarterfinals, Sjinkie Knegt dropped out in the semifinals with a penalty and Sven Roes was the best Dutchman with 14th place. After their races, there had been no mopping, while the battered ice floor could have used it.
The loss of the Italians was both a relief and a warning for the Netherlands. It was nice that the final place was almost certain, because the first two countries would continue and Poland could not follow the Netherlands and China. But it was also exciting because the Netherlands could just go down on the mediocre ice, as Schulting had happened to in the mixed relay last weekend. “We didn’t take any risks, but we wanted to win,” said Van Kerkhof.
Mastering down to the last detail
The Dutch master the team part down to the last detail. At home base Thialf, national coach Jeroen Otter has his pupils do it almost every day. By far most of the training sessions on the ice are relay simulations: doing two laps, pushing a teammate into motion, finishing in the middle section, then coming in later and receiving the push. And so it goes on.
The Dutch women became world relay champions last year. The men were under Otter’s leadership three times (2014, 2017 and 2021). But the Olympic final is different. The men were there in Sochi, but fell after a few meters and eventually finished fourth.
The women never made it to the final. They owed their bronze medal of 2018 to two disqualifications in the A-final. Because two of the four teams were removed from the results of the final, their best in the B-final finished in third place.
That was a different time, said Van Kerkhof. “Four years ago, we kind of thought Korea was unbeatable.” The Dutch quartet, then with Schulting, Van Kerkhof, Jorien ter Mors and Lara van Ruijven, started to have doubts. Did they want to take risks in a near hopeless attempt to beat Korea or would they play it safe for silver? ‘It would be nice if we could now give other countries that doubt.’
Radiating Dominance
The Netherlands is in that position. It has won three of the four World Cup competitions this season and is the reigning world champion. And they wanted to radiate that dominance. Schulting: ‘I think we are the best relay country and you want to give that mental blow.’
The blow came to China, Schulting thought. In an attempt to surprise the Dutch, the Chinese drivers switched at other times. Not as usual every one and a half rounds, but sometimes after one or after two. “They were scared. They tried everything to upset us, but they did it more to themselves.’
After their semi-finals, the Dutch looked with a sideways eye as they took off their skates at the match where South Korea and Canada qualified for the final battle. That made little impression. “Canada seemed to go for it, but they were one and a half seconds slower than us,” Van Kerkhof analyzed. “And Korea wasn’t switching as well.”
Of course, they have to stay sharp when it comes to gold, emphasized Van Kerkhof, the oldest and most experienced rider of the bunch. And don’t fall, like on the mixed relay. But at the same time, she beamed at the realization that she had not only made it to the Olympic final for the first time, but had also scared the competition. “When the Koreans look back at our ride, they are more afraid of us than we are of them.”