The 29 Dutch skaters who will compete in the World Cup to be held in Obihiro, Japan, starting Friday, gained a lot of strength last week.
This also includes Thomas Krol, who appeared with a slight jet lag in front of the NOS microphone the day before the tournament. “This is the longest ride in skating.”
On Monday, Krol got into the car at 8.30am in Heerenveen. After a two-day journey, he arrived in Obihiro around midnight (Japan time) on Tuesday evening.
Since the ice rink on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido could not be reached by a direct flight from the Netherlands, the skaters were transported from one airport to another by buses in Tokyo. “It was quite a journey,” said the realistic Krol.
Schouten team canceled
There was the excitement of the long journey ahead of the World Championships in Obihiro. For Irene Schouten’s team, this was a reason for rejection. “You have destroyed more than you have gained with this journey,” Coach Jillert Anema said in announcing his selection.
Krol disagrees. While he runs the 1,500 meters on Saturday, he won’t be able to do it with his shaky plane legs. “No. A little longer than the average trip, that’s definitely true. However, if you go from Calgary to Amsterdam, you will also lose two days. “This is the situation now.”
Following the cancellation of Schouten’s team, the ice skating association KNSB once again emphasized the importance of the World Cups. This season, the starting venues for major championship tournaments (European Championships and World Cup distances, World Cup overall and World Cup sprint) will be determined by World Cup rankings and times traveled.
Freek van der Wart, KNSB’s discipline manager, is experiencing serious jet lag in Japan. But the bad night wasn’t due to Schouten’s team not being in Obihiro. Van der Wart states that the risk of missing out on the starting ticket due to AH-Zaanlander’s absence is “very low”.
“There are a lot of good drivers here who will win a lot of places. A few key drivers are missing but it’s manageable. We look everywhere and assume things are going well.
Many champions available
The top Dutch figure skater is currently missing in Japan due to the absence of three-time Olympic champion Schouten. However, the last world champions Femke Kok (500 meters), Jutta Leerdam (1000 meters), Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong (1500 meters) and Patrick Roest (5000 meters) will also be present in Japan. Olympic champions Kjeld Nuis (1,500 meters) and Krol did the same, but the latter failed to qualify for “his” 1,000 meters.
Next week AH-Zaanlander drivers Schouten, Marijke Groenewoud, Melissa Wijfje, Elisa Dul and Gert Wierda will travel to Beijing. It is much easier to get to the ice rink in China’s capital.
Krol isn’t so harsh on his colleagues at AH-Zaanlander either. “I won’t judge because sometimes we miss the World Cup. Of course, for sports in general, it’s a shame the teams aren’t there. But they have their own reasons for this. I really love Japan. “I think it’s really cool to skate here.”
Krol says he’s not the right person to have a strong opinion about the long journey. The 31-year-old skater is a big aviation enthusiast: he trains in this direction, flies in the simulator in his spare time and wants to become a pilot after his skating career. “Even if we flew to Australia it wouldn’t take long enough.”
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
