NOS Skating•
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Sebastiaan Timmerman
commentator/reporter NOS Sport
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Sebastiaan Timmerman
commentator/reporter NOS Sport
Set the alarm early, skating enthusiasts will have to get up early in the coming days for the first international competitions of this season. The Nagano World Cup is the first reunion with riders such as Jordan Stolz, Davide Ghiotto and of course home favorite Miho Takagi.
Two weeks after the qualifying tournament we will see how the Dutch skaters are doing internationally. And some repairs are needed at some distances, because the skating country of the Netherlands has lost ground in recent winters. It is a technical story, but important towards the 2026 Olympic Games.
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NOS
Friday’s program -
NOS
Saturday’s program -
NOS
Sunday’s program
For example, next weekend, not five, but only two Dutch people will start in the A division in the 5,000 meters. If the Netherlands wants to go to Milan in fifteen months with the maximum number of nine men and nine women, they must score well in the first four World Cups of next season.
The most points are of course achieved in the A division. That is why it is important to regain as many starting tickets for the A division as possible now.
The Milan games are already casting their shadow ahead.
Unclopable pride
When the first starting gun sounds on Friday morning at 6 a.m. Dutch time, the Dutch sprinters will start the hunt for the American Jordan Stolz. Over the past two winters he was virtually unbeatable on the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters.
Stolz started the new season with nothing but victories: he won four titles at the American championship in Milwaukee and last week won four gold medals at the Four Continents in Hachinohe, Japan, the international warm-up event for the non-European countries. At that competition he also competed in the team pursuit for the seniors for the first time.
“I didn’t have to do any all-round training this year,” says Stolz in conversation with the NOS. “So I could focus more on the sprint distances. It’s all a bit easier this year. That’s probably due to the training in the summer. I trained less on content.”
Watch a report about Stolz below:
Stolz is more than ready for the new skating season: ‘It will all be a bit easier this year’
Many skating fans are also looking forward to Davide Ghiotto’s first performance. The Italian long-distance specialist skated the fastest time ever for the 10 kilometers in Inzell on October 26, but his 12.26.30 was not recognized as a world record due to the lack of a doping check.
‘The ten’ is not yet on the program in Nagano, but Ghiotto is chasing Sven Kramer’s eight-year-old track record (6.15.17) in the 5,000 meters.
Debut Fontana
For the women, many internationally renowned names are on the starting list, such as Brittany Bowe and Miho Takagi, from whom a lot is expected in their home country.
The most striking participant is perhaps the Italian Arianna Fontana. The 34-year-old two-time Olympic short track champion is making her debut on the long track and wants to end her impressive career in both disciplines in more than a year.
The first World Cup starts on Friday at 6 a.m. Dutch time, on Saturday and Sunday the matches start an hour earlier, at 5 a.m.
Otterspeer suits for reserve role at World Cups in Asia: ‘Keep the honor to myself’
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