A lot of surprises at the Dutch Olympic trial

The Dutch Olympic trials were packed with action and surprises this week in Heerenveen.

By Jackob Savard
Photo: Schaats Foto's

Every distances were raced one time in the competition so the skaters had only one chance per distance to qualify for the Olympics . Here are the things that surprised us the most this week:

5000m M - King Kramer defeated
The multiple world and olympic champion Sven Kramer was beaten in the 5000m. Bob de Vries surprised everyone with his time of 6:15.06. A time that gave him the victory in the 5000m. Kramer will still be on the team thanks to his second position. Jorrit Bergsma, one of the favorite to accompany Kramer prior to the competition, finished fourth and will not race the distance in Pyeongchang.

500m M - A disqualification that breaks a dream
The sky fell on the reigning 500m Dutch champion's head. Dai Dai Ntab was disqualified for false start and will not represent the Netherlands in Pyeongchang. They will still have a pretty solid team on the distance with Ronald Mulder, Kai Verbij and Jan Smeekens.

1000m M - Verbij is missing

The men’s 1000m was raced without one of the favorites as Kai Verbij was injured during a start in the 500m earlier in the competition. He will still race this distance at the Olympics and will replace Thomas Krol who finished third on the distance.

500m F - Anice Das surprise
Anice Das surprised everyone with a crazy fast 500m. Das finished first in front of Marrit Leenstra and Letitia de Jong. The skater who started in the 5th pair out of 10 never looked back and finished in first. This first place is a big improvement wcompared to her 10th position at the Dutch Netherland single distances championships.

1500m M - Roest qualifies

22 years old Patrick Roest will be on the Dutch Olympic team due to his third place in the 1500m. The two-time junior world champion will skate in his first Olympics!

We also wanted to salute the awesome performances of Sven Kramer, Koen Verweij, Marrit Leenstra and Ireen Wust who qualified for more than three distances.

Official team:
Ladies
Antoinette de Jong (3000m, team pursuit)
Ireen Wüst (1000m, 1500m, 3000m, team pursuit)
Jorien ter Mors (500m, 1000m)
Lotte van Beek (1500m)
Marrit Leenstra (500m, 1000m, 1500m and team pursuit)
Irene Schouten (mass start)
Annouk van der Weijden (5000m mass start)
Carlijn Achtereekte (3000m)
Esmee Visser (5000m)
Anice Das (500m)

Mens
Sven Kramer (5000m, 10000m, mass start, team pursuit)
Bob de Vries (5000m)
Kjeld Nuis (1000m, 1500m)
Jorrit Bergsma (10000m)
Koen Verweij (1000m, 1500m, mass start, team pursuit)
Ronald Mulder (500m)
Kai Verbij (500m, 1000m)
Jan Smeekens (500 meter)
Patrick Roest (1.500 meter)

Jan Blokhuijsen (5000m, team pursuit)