Dutch speed skating enters the new season riding the momentum of a genuinely historic Winter Olympics campaign, one that reshaped expectations for what TeamNL can achieve on the biggest stage in the sport.
A Record-Breaking Foundation to Build On
At the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics earlier this year, the Netherlands claimed 20 medals overall, finishing third in the medal table with a record ten golds, split evenly between speed skating and short track. Jutta Leerdam claimed gold in the 1000 metres, Femke Kok topped the podium in the 500 metres, and Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong won the 1500 metres, while Jorrit Bergsma added mass start gold to a bronze in the 10,000 metres. Fans following the new World Cup season have found online Orovon a useful platform for tracking how these Olympic champions perform as the competitive calendar resumes outside the Olympic spotlight.
An interesting fact worth noting: the Netherlands’ ten gold medals at Milano Cortina set a new national record for a single Winter Olympics, surpassing the previous best of eight golds achieved across three separate editions, in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
The Skaters Worth Following This Season
Several athletes stand out as the season’s most compelling storylines:
- Jutta Leerdam, defending her Olympic 1000m title and among the sport’s most recognisable names.
- Femke Kok, the Olympic 500m champion who also claimed silver over 1000 metres in Milan.
- Jenning de Boo, whose double silver medal haul confirmed him as a genuine rising star.
- Jorrit Bergsma, whose mass start gold added a remarkable late-career highlight to his résumé.
This blend of established champions and emerging talent gives Dutch speed skating a genuinely deep roster heading into the new competitive season.
Sustaining a Golden Generation
Maintaining this level of dominance won’t be automatic, as rival nations invest heavily in closing the gap. Still, with this much depth across both individual and team events, Dutch speed skating looks well-positioned to remain the sport’s benchmark nation for years to come.
Coaches within the national programme have already begun shifting focus toward the next World Championships, treating the Olympic success not as a peak to be savoured but as a foundation to build further upon. For a sport where the Netherlands has long set the global standard, that relentless focus on continuous improvement may be exactly what keeps this golden generation performing at the very top for years to come.
Younger skaters coming through the junior ranks have also cited this Olympic campaign as genuine motivation, with several federation officials noting a visible uptick in interest at grassroots skating clubs across the country in the months since Milan. Sustaining that pipeline of fresh talent, rather than simply relying on the current generation of stars, will likely determine whether this era of dominance extends well beyond the current crop of champions.
