Netherlands at the 2018 Winter Olympics
# Netherlands at the 2018 Winter Olympics

The Netherlands competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, between 9 and 25 February 2018. Speed skater Jan Smeekens was appointed as flag bearer for the opening ceremony, which was attended by King Willem Alexander, Queen Máxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also observed the sporting events that featured Dutch competitors.

The goal for the Dutch team was to win fifteen medals, as declared by Chef de mission Jeroen Bijl; they exceeded this goal by five medals, with a total of twenty, which placed the Netherlands fifth in the medal table. Most notably, the Dutch team dominated the individual speed skating events, winning seven of the ten gold medals awarded; they also won four medals in short track speed skating including their first ever gold medal in this discipline, won by Suzanne Schulting.

## Highlights

### Day 1

Netherlands made a podium sweep in the women's 3000 metres speed skating event – Carlijn Achtereekte won gold, Ireen Wüst won silver and Antoinette de Jong won bronze. Then a few minutes after the podium sweep, Sjinkie Knegt won the silver medal in the men's 1500 metres short track speed skating event.

### Day 2

Sven Kramer won the gold medal in the men's 5000 metres speed skating event. Kramer became the first man ever to win a gold medal in the same speed skating event at three consecutive Winter Olympics.

### Day 3

Netherlands took three of the top four places in the women's 1500 metres speed skating event; Ireen Wüst won the gold medal and Marrit Leenstra took bronze, only 0.01 seconds ahead of Lotte van Beek. On winning the gold medal, Wüst had succeeded in achieving gold medal wins at four consecutive Winter Olympics, exactly twelve years after winning her first gold medal in the 3000 metres in 2006. With a total of ten medals, including five golds, Wüst became the best ever Olympic speed skater (male or female) and the seventh-best Winter Olympic athlete overall.

### Day 4

Olympic debutant Kjeld Nuis won the gold medal in the men's 1500 metres speed skating event. Patrick Roest, also an Olympic debutant, won the silver medal. Koen Verweij, one of the favorites for the win, disappointed with an eleventh place. In short track speed skating, Yara van Kerkhof unexpectedly won the silver medal in the women's 500 metres event, benefiting from the disqualification of the Korean Choi Min-jeong after initially finishing in third.

## Medalists

| Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Gold | Carlijn Achtereekte | Speed skating | Women's 3000 metres | 10 February |
| Gold | Sven Kramer | Speed skating | Men's 5000 metres | 11 February |
| Gold | Ireen Wüst | Speed skating | Women's 1500 metres | 12 February |
| Gold | Kjeld Nuis | Speed skating | Men's 1500 metres | 13 February |
| Gold | Jorien ter Mors | Speed skating | Women's 1000 metres | 14 February |
| Gold | Esmee Visser | Speed skating | Women's 5000 metres | 16 February |
| Gold | Kjeld Nuis | Speed skating | Men's 1000 metres | 23 February |
| Gold | Suzanne Schulting | Short track speed skating | Women's 1000 metres | 22 February |
| Silver | Ireen Wüst | Speed skating | Women's 3000 metres | 10 February |
| Silver | Patrick Roest | Speed skating | Men's 1500 metres | 13 February |
| Silver | Jorrit Bergsma | Speed skating | Men's 10000 metres | 15 February |
| Silver | Antoinette de Jong Marrit Leenstra Ireen Wüst Lotte van Beek | Speed skating | Women's team pursuit | 21 February |
| Silver | Sjinkie Knegt | Short track speed skating | Men's 1500 metres | 10 February |
| Silver | Yara van Kerkhof | Short track speed skating | Women's 500 metres | 13 February |
| Bronze | Antoinette de Jong | Speed skating | Women's 3000 metres | 10 February |
| Bronze | Marrit Leenstra | Speed skating | Women's 1500 metres | 12 February |
| Bronze | Jan Blokhuijsen Sven Kramer Koen Verweij Patrick Roest | Speed skating | Men's team pursuit | 21 February |
| Bronze | Irene Schouten | Speed skating | Women's mass start | 24 February |
| Bronze | Koen Verweij | Speed skating | Men's mass start | 24 February |
| Bronze | Yara van Kerkhof Jorien ter Mors Lara van Ruijven Suzanne Schulting | Short track speed skating | Women's 3000 metre relay | 20 February |

Medals by sport :

| Sport | | | | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Speed skating | 7 | 4 | 5 | 16 |
| Short track speed skating | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Total | 8 | 6 | 6 | 20 |

Medals by date :

| Day | Date | | | | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Day 1 | 10 February | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Day 2 | 11 February | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Day 3 | 12 February | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Day 4 | 13 February | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Day 5 | 14 February | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Day 6 | 15 February | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Day 7 | 16 February | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Day 8 | 17 February | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Day 9 | 18 February | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Day 10 | 19 February | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Day 11 | 20 February | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Day 12 | 21 February | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Day 13 | 22 February | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Day 14 | 23 February | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Day 15 | 24 February | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Day 16 | 25 February | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 8 | 6 | 6 | 20 |

## Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors participating at the Games per sport/discipline.

| Sport | Men | Women | Total |
| - | - | - | - |
| Short track speed skating | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Skeleton | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Snowboarding | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Speed skating | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Total | 16 | 17 | 33 |

$^a$ Niek van der Velden was the only male snowboarder on the team, but did not compete due to a broken shoulder. $^b$ Jorien ter Mors competed in both short track and long track speed skating (hence the totals appear to be one short).

## Short track speed skating

According to the ISU Special Olympic Qualification Rankings, the Netherlands have qualified a full squad of five men and five women each.

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Daan Breeuwsma | 500 m | 40.806 | 2 Q | 40.677 | 2 Q | 40.775 | 4 FB | 40.835 | 7 |
| Daan Breeuwsma | 1000 m | 1:24.429 | 4 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Dylan Hoogerwerf | 500 m | 40.657 | 2 Q | 41.007 | 3 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Sjinkie Knegt | 500 m | PEN | PEN | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Sjinkie Knegt | 1000 m | 1:23.823 | 1 Q | PEN | PEN | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Sjinkie Knegt | 1500 m | 2:15.949 | 3 Q | — | — | 2:11.900 | 1 FA | 2:10.555 | |
| Itzhak de Laat | 1000 m | 1:24.639 | 1 Q | 1:24.423 | 3 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Itzhak de Laat | 1500 m | 2:15.691 | 2 Q | — | — | 2:11.781 | 3 AA | 2:12.362 | 6 |
| Daan Breeuwsma Sjinkie Knegt Itzhak de Laat Dennis Visser | 5000 m relay | — | — | — | — | PEN | PEN | Did not advance | Did not advance |

$^c$ Dylan Hoogerwerf was also part of the relay team, but did not compete.

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Yara van Kerkhof | 500 m | 43.430 | 2 Q | 43.197 | 2 Q | 43.192 | 1 FA | 43.256 | |
| Yara van Kerkhof | 1000 m | 1:43.364 | 2 Q | 1:29.670 | 4 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Jorien ter Mors | 1500 m | 2:28.587 | 2 Q | — | — | 2:34.385 | 1 FA | 2:25.955 | 5 |
| Lara van Ruijven | 500 m | 43.771 | 3 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Lara van Ruijven | 1000 m | 1:30.896 | 1 Q | 1:31.754 | 4 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Suzanne Schulting | 500 m | DNF | DNF | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Suzanne Schulting | 1000 m | 1:29.519 | 1 Q | 1:29.377 | 2 Q | 1:30.949 | 1 FA | 1:29.778 | |
| Suzanne Schulting | 1500 m | 2:27.730 | 1 Q | — | — | 2:34.632 | 4 FB | 2:37.163 | 10 |
| Yara van Kerkhof Jorien ter Mors Lara van Ruijven Suzanne Schulting | 3000 m relay | — | — | — | — | 4:05.977 | 3 FB | 4:03.471 WR | |

$^d$ Rianne de Vries was also part of the relay team, but did not compete.

Key: AA = Advanced to medal round due to being impeded by another skater; DNF = Did not finish; FA = Qualified to medal round; FB = Qualified to consolation round; PEN = Penalty; Q = Qualified to next round; WR = World record

## Skeleton

Based on the world rankings, the Netherlands qualified two sleds. However, they elected to nominate only one athlete, Kimberley Bos, who was the first Dutch skeleton athlete ever to qualify for the Olympics. Although Bos met the international qualification criteria by virtue of her performance during the World Cup skeleton 2017–18, in which she finished in 13th place overall, she was not initially selected because she did not meet the NOC*NSF's own requirement (a top-12 place). However, NOC*NSF argued that Russian athlete Jelena Nikitina should be eliminated from the World Cup classification, as she had been excluded by the IOC from participating in the Olympics. When this was agreed, Bos rose to 12th place on the clean list for the World Cup classification, thereby fulfilling the NOC*NSF requirement, and her nomination was secured.

| Athlete | Event | Run 1 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Run 3 | Run 4 | Run 4 | Total | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Kimberley Bos | Women's | 52.33 | 8 | 52.26 | 7 | 51.99 | 6 | 52.01 | 7 | 3:28.59 | 8 |

## Snowboarding

Niek van der Velden was unable to compete because of a broken shoulder caused by a crash in the final training for the slopestyle.

Cheryl Maas fell in both runs of the women's slopestyle, so she did not play an important role in the final. Strong winds during the final caused many of the athletes to fall; Maas called the conditions "irresponsible".

### Freestyle

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Run 1 | Run 2 | Best | Rank | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Best | Rank |
| Niek van der Velden | Men's slopestyle | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury |
| Niek van der Velden | Men's big air | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury | Withdrew due to injury |
| Cheryl Maas | Women's slopestyle | CAN | CAN | CAN | CAN | 31.71 | 35.30 | CAN | 35.30 | 23 |
| Cheryl Maas | Women's big air | 65.00 | 44.75 | 65.00 | 20 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |

### Parallel

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Round of 16 | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final / BM | Final / BM |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Opposition Time | Opposition Time | Opposition Time | Opposition Time | Rank |
| Michelle Dekker | Women's giant slalom | 1:33.60 | 17 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Speed skating

The Dutch Olympic Committee selected the maximum allowed delegation of ten men and ten women, largely based on the results of the Olympic qualification tournament, held in December 2017. Kai Verbij was added for the 1000 metre event, because he was injured during the qualification race.

### Men

| Athlete | Event | Race | Race |
| - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
| Jorrit Bergsma | 10000 m | 12:41.98 | |
| Jan Blokhuijsen | 5000 m | 6:14.75 | 7 |
| Sven Kramer | 5000 m | 6:09.76 OR | |
| Sven Kramer | 10000 m | 13:01.02 | 6 |
| Ronald Mulder | 500 m | 34.839 | 7 |
| Kjeld Nuis | 1000 m | 1:07.95 | |
| Kjeld Nuis | 1500 m | 1:44.01 | |
| Patrick Roest | 1500 m | 1:44.86 | |
| Jan Smeekens | 500 m | 34.930 | 10 |
| Kai Verbij | 500 m | 34.90 | 9 |
| Kai Verbij | 1000 m | 1:08.61 | 6 |
| Koen Verweij | 1000 m | 1:09.14 | 9 |
| Koen Verweij | 1500 m | 1:46.26 | 11 |
| Bob de Vries | 5000 m | 6:22.26 | 15 |

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Race | Race |
| - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
| Carlijn Achtereekte | 3000 m | 3:59.21 | |
| Lotte van Beek | 1500 m | 1:55.27 | 4 |
| Lotte van Beek | 500 m | 39.18 | 23 |
| Anice Das | 500 m | 38.75 | 19 |
| Antoinette de Jong | 3000 m | 4:00.02 | |
| Marrit Leenstra | 1000 m | 1:14.85 | 6 |
| Marrit Leenstra | 1500 m | 1:55.26 | |
| Jorien ter Mors | 500 m | 37.539 | 6 |
| Jorien ter Mors | 1000 m | 1:13.56 OR | |
| Esmee Visser | 5000 m | 6:50.23 | |
| Annouk van der Weijden | 5000 m | 6:54.17 | 4 |
| Ireen Wüst | 1000 m | 1:15.32 | 9 |
| Ireen Wüst | 1500 m | 1:54.35 | |
| Ireen Wüst | 3000 m | 3:59.29 | |

### Mass start

| Athlete | Event | Semifinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Points | Time | Rank | Points | Time | Rank |
| Sven Kramer | Men's mass start | 6 | 8:24.51 | 4 Q | 0 | 8:13.95 | 16 |
| Koen Verweij | Men's mass start | 5 | 8:44.90 | 5 Q | 20 | 7:44.24 | |
| Irene Schouten | Women's mass start | 5 | 8:54.94 | 4 Q | 20 | 8:33.02 | |
| Annouk van der Weijden | Women's mass start | 40 | 8:32.31 | 2 Q | 0 | 8:42.19 | 14 |

### Team pursuit

| Athlete | Event | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Time | Rank | Opposition Time | Rank | Opposition Time | Rank |
| Jan Blokhuijsen Sven Kramer Koen Verweij Patrick Roest | Men's team pursuit | United States (USA) W 3:40.03 | 2 Q | Norway (NOR) L 3:38.46 | 2 FB | New Zealand (NZL) W 3:38.40 | |
| Antoinette de Jong Marrit Leenstra Ireen Wüst Lotte van Beek | Women's team pursuit | South Korea (KOR) W 2:55.61 OR | 1 Q | United States (USA) W 3:00.41 | 1 FA | Japan (JPN) L 2:55.48 | |

Key: FA = Qualified to gold medal round; FB = Qualified to bronze medal round; L = Lost; OR = Olympic record; Q = Qualified to next round; W = Won

