Dutch speedskating fans are already counting on at least three gold medals next year at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. But will the tipped winner - Sven Kramer - meet their expectations?

Being an almost completely flat country, Holland has no tradition to speak of in traditional (i.e. alpine) winter sports. The exception being speedskating on ice, which is a tremendously popular sport in the Netherlands.

Two types of tournaments exist in speedskating: all-round championships in which results from four different races are combined to determine the winner, and so-called single-distance championships, where no overall classification is calculated. The Dutch are masters at the former, but often get the short end of the stick when it comes down to just the single-distance.

Talented
Sven Kramer of the Netherlands, at 23 years old, is already one of the most successful speedskaters of all time. Over the past three years he has won almost every race in which he competed, becoming national champion three times, as well as European and world champion in the ‘all-round’ category. He is especially talented at the longer distances – 5 and 10 kilometres, but is sufficiently strong at the ‘sprinting’ 500 metres and the classical ‘middle-distance’ of 1,500 metres to sweep away the competition in the overall standings.

The expectations of Dutch fans for the forthcoming Winter Olympics are therefore sky-high. But will Sven be able to withstand both the pressure of being everyone’s favourite, and the extra efforts his opponents will put in because of the unique significance of winning an Olympic medal?

Sadly for the Dutch: in the Olympics there is no overall score in speedskating. Medals are awarded for five different distances, on top of which every country is allowed to delegate a trio for the team pursuit. Competitors from countries where speedskating enjoys marginal status, like the United States, Germany, Russia or host-country Canada, know their only claim to fame will be Olympic gold. They train fanatically for four years, just to excel in that one race.

Less dominance
So was it just a glitch at October’s first important national tournament of the season that saw Sven Kramer win the 5 and 10 kilometres once again, but with significantly less dominance than usual? Sven had hopes of supremacy on the 1,500 metres too, but didn’t even finish in the top ten. Is the big champion losing sight of his ultimate goal as a sportsman? Did the television cameras register shock and fear in his eyes? Will his dreams of triple gold in Vancouver be shattered?

In spite of all this, skating aficionados of the Netherlands should not despair. The country holds a respectable track record at Winter Olympics, coming in 13th place on the all-time classification by nations. Way behind traditional gold winners like Norway and the United States, but still ahead of big countries like France or Germany. Almost all medals were won in speedskating. So Dutch fans may keep on dreaming of success in the town they have already affectionately renamed ‘Svencouver’. But maybe another Dutchman will come out of the blue to strike Olympic gold.

Photo: Sven Kramer in action on the ice at the 5000 metre finals at the first International Skating Union World Cup event of the 2009/2010 skating season, 7 November, Berlin. ANP VINCENT JANNINK