Irene Schouten wins first Dutch gold at Winter Olympics

Dutch speed skater Irene Schouten took home the first gold medal for the Netherlands at the Winter Olympics in Beijing this Saturday.

The 29-year-old speed skater set an Olympic record of 3.56.93 at the women’s 3,000 meter speed skating competition, coming in ahead of Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida (silver) and Canada’s Isabelle Weidemann (bronze).

Ireen Wüst won the 3,000 meters at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The Netherlands is the first country to deliver the winner at this distance in three consecutive Games, according to data agency Gracenote.

Schouten is the daughter of a tulip farmer from Noord-Holland and went to Beijing as a favorite. She had won all competitions in the 3,000 meters in which she started this season.