Schouten won three gold medals at these Games. In addition to the mass start, also on the 3000 and 5000 meters. The other Dutch victories were won by skaters Ireen Wüst (1500 meters) and Kjeld Nuis (1500 meters), short track star Suzanne Schulting (1000 meters) and the women’s relay team in the short track.
Despite Schouten’s impressive victory, the Netherlands was passed on the medal table by Sweden and host country China later in the day. With a handful of Olympic events to go, the Orange now occupies sixth place.
The Netherlands has now won seventeen medals at the Beijing Games. In Sochi the Orange formation reached a record number of 24 slices and in Pyeongchang there were twenty medals to celebrate. The objective of chef de mission Carl Verheijen in Beijing was ‘towards twenty medals’, but that is just not going to work. On the final day, there is nowhere left for the Netherlands to pick up. Nevertheless, Verheijen looks back with satisfaction.
The lower score now is due to the long track skaters. In Pyeongchang they won sixteen medals, now there are twelve. Just like in 2018, the short trackers came in at four places. Kimberley Bos provided a first this time with the first Dutch Olympic medal in the skeleton. In Vancouver (2010), TeamNL won only eight medals: four gold, one silver and three bronze.
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