The "5 Golden Kings" led the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the Dutch speed skating team attacked 9 gold medals

"5 Golden Kings" Worcester led the appearance at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Photo: Official website of the International Skating Union

On January 19, the official website of the International Skating Federation published an article introducing the preparations for the Winter Olympics of the Dutch team, the hegemon of the speed skating event. As the two most accomplished active athletes in the project, "5 Golden Kings" Worcester and "4 Golden Kings" Cramer will lead 5 Winter Olympic champions to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics, attacking 9 gold medals in 14 sub-events.

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Worcester and Cramer played for the 5th time at the Winter Olympics

In the speed skating event of the Winter Olympics, the Netherlands is undoubtedly the absolute hegemon. In the history of the Winter Olympics, the Dutch speed skating team won a total of 42 gold, 40 silver and 39 bronze, far ahead of other teams, including 6 Winter Olympics topped the speed skating medal table. At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, the Dutch speed skating team won 8 of the 12 gold medals, and the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics four years ago produced a total of 14 speed skating gold medals, and the Dutch won 7 gold.

Worcester and Cramer were born in 1986 and have participated in the four Winter Olympics in Turin, Vancouver, Sochi and Pyeongchang, and the Beijing Winter Olympics is their fifth trip to the Olympic Games. Worcester and Kramer are also the most accomplished female and male athletes in active service, respectively, in the past 4 Winter Olympics, the former won 5 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze, and the latter won 4 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze.

Worcester's strength is very strong, and the competitive state is also extremely stable, starting from the Turin Winter Olympics to win the women's 3000 meters gold medal, 1500 meters bronze medals, every Winter Olympic Games have gold medals in the account. The Vancouver Winter Olympics won the gold medal in the 1500 meters, and the Sochi Winter Olympics not only won the gold medals in the 3000 meters and team pursuit, but also won the silver medals in the 1000 meters, 1500 meters and 5000 meters. At the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Worcester won the gold medal in the 1500 meters, and the 3000 meters and team chase also won the second place.

Cramer's experience is also legendary. In 2006, he participated in the First Winter Olympics, won the silver medal in the men's 5000 meters, the bronze medal in the team chase, and since then, the above two events have stood on the podium for the three Winter Olympic Games. Cramer won gold medals in the men's 5,000m at the Vancouver, Sochi and Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and won the men's team chase with his teammates in 2014.

At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Dutch speed skating team will be the only team to compete in full (9 men and 9 women) and hold 34 seats. In addition to Worcester and Cramer, two legendary veterans aged 35, there are three other Winter Olympic champions, namely Archichlikett (Pyeongchang Winter Olympics women's 3000m champion), Nius (Pyeongchang Winter Olympics men's 1000m, 1500m champion) and Bogsma (Sochi Winter Olympics men's 10000m champion).

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The Dutch team has 9 small events with the strength to rush gold

Looking back at the four World Cups this season, the Performance of the Dutch Speed Skating Team does not seem to be eye-catching, with only one event ranking first in the table. However, this is mainly related to the fact that many Dutch players at the end of the season gave up the World Cup and prepared for the domestic selection competition, in a sense, the internal selection of the Dutch speed skating team is more tragic than the World Cup competition.

"It was undoubtedly the toughest game in the Netherlands and it was a huge test of mind and fitness." Even the "hardware king" Worcester also called it difficult, her final overall ranking was only 9th, and even almost missed the Winter Olympics. Cramer was even luckier, his overall ranking was originally outside the 9-man men's list, and considering his important role in the team chase, Cramer finally hitched a ride on the last train of the Winter Olympics.

Of course, Worcester and Kramer, who participated in the Winter Olympics for the fifth time, are no longer the focus of the Dutch speed skating team, and their main task is to participate in the women's team chase and the men's team chase, helping young teammates with rich experience. Women's players Scotten, Lildam, De Jong and men's players Kroll and Nius are the core of this team.

At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Dutch women's speed skating team has an absolute group advantage. Women's 3000 meters, 5000 meters, collective departure three long distance events, Skauteng has the strength to impact 3 gold medals, women's 1000 meters, 1500 meters, Lildham, De Jong, etc. also have a chance to win the championship, in addition, Scotten will also compete with De Jong, Grohenwood to compete for the women's team to chase the championship.

In contrast, the dominance of the Dutch men's speed skating team is not so obvious, and the gold rush strength includes the men's 1000 meters, 1500 meters, and team chase 3 events. In the men's 1000m event, Kroll and Otlespel had the opportunity to win gold and silver medals. In the men's 1500m event, Pyeongchang Olympic champions Nius and Kroll will be strong rivals of China's Ning Zhongyan.

In February this year, the National Speed Skating Hall "Ice Ribbon" will produce 14 speed skating gold medals, and it is no accident that the Dutch speed skating team with a luxurious lineup will set off a wave of "Orange Storm".

Beijing News reporter Xu Bangyin

Edited by Han Shuangming Proofreader Wang Xin