StefanMUC Posted February 16, 2014 Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 Oh dear. Another Dutch sweep...1-4 this time even. People complain about German luge dominance, but at least our lugers let other countries win medals too :S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotosy Posted February 16, 2014 Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 3x medals for Netherlands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gangwon Posted February 16, 2014 Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 Halfway through Sochi, the Dutch are leading the total medal count! They've already smashed their previous record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiveRingFever Posted February 16, 2014 Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 What a debacle for U.S. Speedskating. The whole uniform thing was ridiculous, and heads need to roll. Congrats to the Dutch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob2012 Posted February 16, 2014 Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 The Dutch need to be careful the Speedskating Federation doesn't do what the UCI did after Beijing 2008. Only one Dutchman per event in 2018? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intoronto Posted February 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 The Dutch need to be careful the Speedskating Federation doesn't do what the UCI did after Beijing 2008. Only one Dutchman per event in 2018? Highly unlikely. The ISU sets time standards and if they limit to one per nation the field of athletes meeting the time requirement won't hit 40 (the number needed for the race). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiveRingFever Posted February 16, 2014 Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 The Dutch will be heavy favorites in 3 of the 4 next races and a pretty solid favorite in the women's 5000. This could be one of the biggest dominations in any Olympic sport, maybe the biggest since the start of out-of-competition drug testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanMUC Posted February 16, 2014 Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 Highly unlikely. The ISU sets time standards and if they limit to one per nation the field of athletes meeting the time requirement won't hit 40 (the number needed for the race). They don't need to have 40 in each race, this domination is so massive that it's getting critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiveRingFever Posted February 16, 2014 Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 They don't need to have 40 in each race, this domination is so massive that it's getting critical. Other nations athletes need to step it up. Denny Morrison did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barcelona_'92 Posted February 17, 2014 Report Share Posted February 17, 2014 The Dutch will be heavy favorites in 3 of the 4 next races and a pretty solid favorite in the women's 5000. This could be one of the biggest dominations in any Olympic sport, maybe the biggest since the start of out-of-competition drug testing. The closest comparison I can think of is the U.S. men's swimming team in Montreal. They were so dominant that FINA reduced the number of swimmers per country per event from 3 to 2 after the 1976 Games. I don't see the ISU reducing the number of spots per country as a result of the Dutch dominance, though. The ISU gets so much money from Dutch TV and corporate sponsors that it basically funds speed skating internationally. There's no way they'll cut off that gravy train unless they are forced to by the IOC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted February 17, 2014 Report Share Posted February 17, 2014 I think it is more other athletes (Shani Davis, Mo Tae-Bum, Denis Kuzin, Denis Yuskov, Heather Richardson, Brittany Bowe, Claudia Pechstein, and Christine Nesbitt) not being in great shape, not performing well or succumbing to the pressure. Combined with the Dutch spending a lot of Euros on the speed disciples and starting to take short track seriously and you got this impressive show of dominance. Pyeongchang will probably be significantly different given that Canada, the USA, Korea, Germany, Poland and Russia all have good young skaters coming up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gangwon Posted February 17, 2014 Report Share Posted February 17, 2014 If the Dutch can be that good, all the better for them. And like faster said, this could be a one-off. Their was no domination from any country in 2010. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intoronto Posted February 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2014 I think it is more other athletes (Shani Davis, Mo Tae-Bum, Denis Kuzin, Denis Yuskov, Heather Richardson, Brittany Bowe, Claudia Pechstein, and Christine Nesbitt) not being in great shape, not performing well or succumbing to the pressure. Combined with the Dutch spending a lot of Euros on the speed disciples and starting to take short track seriously and you got this impressive show of dominance. Pyeongchang will probably be significantly different given that Canada, the USA, Korea, Germany, Poland and Russia all have good young skaters coming up. Canada? Which skaters are you referring to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorchbearerSydney Posted February 18, 2014 Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 I like only 2 participant or teams in ANY Olympic event, summer or winter. There should be at least 2 nations on every podium. Clean sweeps are demoralising, reduce global interest in the sport and invariably raise drug questions. If the NED Olympic Trials end up being more competitve than the Olympics (like the US swimming trials in a number of events) so be it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gangwon Posted February 18, 2014 Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 Another sweep for the Dutch in men's 10,000 metres and they now have 19 of 27 speed skating medals! And 20 medals overall for the Netherlands! This will be one of the biggest stories of the games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanMUC Posted February 18, 2014 Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 It's incredible. They'll probably sweep the women's 5000 too, unless Sablikova spoils it. And both team pursuits will be Dutch golds too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiveRingFever Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 If the Dutch find a way to sweep the two pursuits, that's when I start getting extremely suspicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zekekelso Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 So, what was the over / under on when the first "must be drugs" post would show up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barcelona_'92 Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 To be honest, I'm surprised there haven't been more suspicions of doping. I'm not saying they are, but when one country has such a dominant performance like this, it's bound to be discussed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 I think it is because it is the Netherlands. I cannot recall a single incident of a Dutch athlete caught doping at a major competition. If this was Russia, Belarus etc, countries with known histories of doping than there would likely be a lot more suspicion. And it is not like it was beyond the realm of possibility that the Dutch would sweep a few events. The Dutch have been just so dominate lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiveRingFever Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 So, what was the over / under on when the first "must be drugs" post would show up. Was this a response to my post? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaegen Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 I think it is because it is the Netherlands. I cannot recall a single incident of a Dutch athlete caught doping at a major competition. If this was Russia, Belarus etc, countries with known histories of doping than there would likely be a lot more suspicion. And it is not like it was beyond the realm of possibility that the Dutch would sweep a few events. The Dutch have been just so dominate lately. *clears throat* http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/doping-rampant-amongst-dutch-cyclists-earlier-report-says Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 *clears throat* http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/doping-rampant-amongst-dutch-cyclists-earlier-report-says Newsflash, doping rampant amongst all cyclist. But yes, there was a Dutch rider that tested positive in le Tour a couple few years back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intoronto Posted February 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 @Faster do you think Canada's team pursuit teams have a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 With the way Morrison is skating, yes. Canada has a favourable draw given we are on the opposite end of the Dutch and Poles. Honestly, its too f-ing hard to call medals for Canada. So much underperformance. And just watch next year at the World Championships. On the women's side, not a chance. We face the Russians first off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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