Netherlands seventh on medal level • Sweden and Great Britain to curling final
For Johan de Wit, the national coach of the Japanese speed skating team, the Olympic Winter Games were eventful. De Wit tested positive for corona and was in isolation for a long time. He looks forward to going to the Netherlands after the Games “to get breathing room”. But a future job as national coach of the Dutch skaters, that is not right at the moment.
“I don’t believe that I would really like to work in this structure as a national coach for the mass start and the team pursuit,” said De Wit. “That the best should be an intensive process and at the moment it seems the teams and the drivers would not want to commit. Then it is difficult. And if I do it, then it has to be good.”
The Dutch pursuit teams performed poorly in Beijing, with only a bronze medal for the women. The fact that the skaters can’t train together often because they ride for commercial business complicates matters.
“You should discuss that. If at some point you start to set the rule that skaters are not allowed to participate if they are not training, and you no longer have a rider, then it will stop,” said De Wit. “The individual results are very good. If that is a choice, you shouldn’t whine about it either, and it is happening now. That may not be quite right. It bothers me that the drivers whine so much. I don’t think that’s nice. “
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