World Cup #2: A weekend to forget for most of the Dutch athletes

While the Dutch ladies were on all the podiums on individual distances in Salt Lake City last week, everything seemed complicated during the second leg of the World cup season held during the weekend in Canada. As for the men’s team, the absence of Dutch leader Sjinkie Knegt definitely leaves a hole difficult to fill. 

By Carl Savard

Photos by Martin Holtom

Nothing went right for Suzanne Schulting

Reigning overall world champion Suzanne Schulting won a silver medal on 1500m and a gold one on 1000m during the first competition of the World cup season in Salt Lake City. In Montreal, the 22-year-old from Groningen was penalised in her semifinal Saturday on 1000m and fell during the quarterfinals on 500m Sunday. The relay events couldn’t even bring her back her smile as the ladies’ team had to settle for first in the B final and the mix relay team was penalised in the main final. 

Her teammates Yara van Kerkhof and Lara van Ruijven had also won medals in the USA in World cup #1. Van Kerkhof, silver medallist at the Pyeongchang Olympic games in 2018 on 500m, had left Salt Lake City with a silver medal on the same distance while reigning 500m world champion Lara van Ruijven had also won a medal (bronze) on the second 500m of the first weekend of competition this season. In Montreal. van Kerkhof had to settle for a first place in the B final of the 500m while van Ruijven couldn’t do better than a presence in the quarterfinals on the same distance. Definitely a weekend to forget for the power trio of the Kingdom of the Low Countries.

A rookie made a good impression

Even though the competition was difficult for most of the team, one rookie definitely performed well enough to leave Canada with a smile for her individual performances. 

Xandra Velzeboer, 18 years of age, was able to reach the B final on 1000m and finished second of that race. “I’m very happy! I have some good memories about this ice rink and kind of felt at home and I didn’t expect this result at all. It is very exciting to be with the national team on the World cup circuit. It’s my first year training with them. I had a really good summer and I feel much stronger.” Velzeboer visited Montreal last spring shen she took part in the World junior championships in which she won a silver medal on 500m and battled in the main final on 1500m. 

The absence of the Knegt leaves a void despite Breeuwsma’s good start

Daan Breeuwsma finished in second place of the B final in the 1000m in Montreal and was pretty happy with his result. “Honestly I think it’s the kind of results I can be happy with at this point of my career. Of course you always aim higher but I think it’s a good start of season for me.” The 31-year-old veteran finished in second place of the B final the previous weekend in Salt Lake City on the same distance. “As for the team, sometimes things just don’t go your way. We had some falls, some penalties and we made bad choices but sometimes there are weekends like that. We just need to keep moving forward, train hard and come back stronger in three weeks in Asia.” When asked about the health status of his friend Sjinkie Knegt, who was struck by two major off-ice incident in the last years, Breeuwsma was positive when it came to discuss the future of the 2015 overall world champion. “We don’t know yet when he will be able to compete again but I think he is doing pretty good. His leg injury requires a lot of work to recover but he’s training hard and seems to recover pretty good. But hey, it’s Sjinkie, I’m sure we’ll see him back in action.”

Other than Breeuwsma’s positive performance on the second 1000m of World cup #2, the best results for the men were Dylan Hoogerwerf’s third place in the B final of the first 1000m of the competition and Friso Emons' eleventh position on 1500m. The relay team was penalised in the quarterfinals. An unusual result for a team who was still able to participate in the main final in Salt Lake City despite lacking their ultimate finisher Sjinkie Knegt.

For the detailed results, click HERE

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