"What the fuck" and "happiest day": Dutch speed skaters celebrate two Olympic golds
“Happiest day of my life” and “what the fuck” were how Xandra Velzeboer and Jens van ‘t Woud, respectively, celebrated their Olympic gold medals in short track speed skating in Milan on Thursday evening. After a huge disappointment in the mixed relay, the “magical” wins took some time to sink in. Merel Conijn also won silver in the 5,000 meters at the Winter Olympics.
The two speed skaters made Dutch short track speed skating history on the ice in Milan, winning two gold medals in less than 14 minutes - Velzeboer in the 500 meters and Van ‘t Woud in the 1,000 meters. Velzeboer also set a world record in the semi-finals, and Van ‘t Woud is the first Dutchman to win gold in the event. “What happened here tonight was magical,” Van ‘t Wout told NU.nl afterward.
What makes the victory extra sweet is that both Van ‘t Wout and Velzeboer were key players in the failed mixed relay semi-final two days ago. Van ‘t Wout was involved in a poor transition, which caused the Netherlands to drop back, while Velzeboer crashed, completely ending their chances of reaching the final.
“What the fuck,” Van ‘t Woud breathed as he crossed the finish line first. Van t’ Wout was flooded with hateful comments online after the mixed relay failure. “Now I can give back a big fuck you,” the new Olympic champion told NOS with his gold medal in hand.
“This is the happiest day of my life,” Velzeboer said, holding her 500-meter gold medal after setting a world record in the semi-final. “I really didn’t expect to set a world record here. I once thought: if I become Olympic champion, I really want to do it in a world record,” she told NU.nl. “That I finally achieved that today only makes this title even more special.”
“All in all, this is a dream come true. I’d visualized this evening so many times, but I never imagined it would be this beautiful,” Velzeboer said.
Merel Conijn won Olympic silver in the 5,000 meters in Milan on Thursday, missing the gold by a tenth of a second. She is absolutely delighted, especially since in 2023 she feared she would never skate at the Olympics again due to a calcium deficiency. “Back then, the doctors said I’d be out for four years,” she laughed, pointing at her medal. “We’re less than three years in now, so things are going pretty well.”
The Netherlands has now won six medals total at the Winter Olympics in Milan, three gold and three silver. Today, Kimberly Bos will skate the women’s skeleton, and Jorrit Bergsma and Stijn van de Bunt will skate in the 10,000 meters men’s speed skating.
