The wedding ceremony of Irene and Dirkjan, who got into a relationship five years ago, took place in Blokker, West Frisian. The couple lives together in Hoogkarspel.
In the summer of 2020, Dirkjan proposed to his skating champion. On City Irene told me at the time that her new husband got down on one knee at their secret spot on the IJsselmeer. “He asked us to go for a swim on a Monday evening. I thought that was strange, because the weather was not nice at all. Then he asked me there.”
The 29-year-old Irene Schouten can look back on a more than successful skating season. At the Winter Olympics, for example, she won gold in the 3000 meters and 5000 meters, both in a new Olympic record, and also managed to finish first at the mass start. At the beginning of March she also took the world all-round title in Hamar, Norway.