#SpeedSkating

The cream of Dutch speed skating will compete on home ice at the ISU European Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen (NED) this weekend, but the Netherlands’ 14-year Allround title streak is in jeopardy. In the absence of title holder Patrick Roest (NED), Norway’s Sander Eitrem hopes to become the first non-Dutch European Allround champion since 2011. In the women’s Allround field, Ragne Wiklund (NOR) challenges reigning champion Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong (NED), pictured, and world champion Joy Beune (NED).

Sprinters up first with De Boo in pole position

The ISU European Speed Skating Championships kick off with the sprint tournament on Friday and Saturday while the Allround competition runs from Saturday to Sunday. Merijn Scheperkamp (NED) and Jutta Leerdam (NED) will defend the European sprint titles they won in Hamar (NOR) two years ago.

Merijn Scheperkamp and Jutta Leerdam will be aiming to defend the European sprint titles they won in Hamar (NOR) in 2023. © ISU

At the Hamar Vikingskipet rink in 2023, Scheperkamp took advantage of an error by Hein Otterspeer (NED) to snatch the title. Otterspeer had put himself in pole position for the title with a superb first day but dropped the ball with a near crash in the second 500m. He hung on to take silver ahead of Marten Liiv (EST).

Liiv will be one of Scheperkamp’s main challengers again at this year’s European Speed Skating Championships. The Estonian sprinter is the first non-Dutch European on the combined 500m and 1000m season’s best list. Scheperkamp himself is the third Dutchman on that ranking, trailing Jenning de Boo and Tim Prins.

After winning the Dutch national sprint title in dominant fashion two weeks ago, De Boo is favorite to add the European title. The 20-year-old former Short Track specialist already won gold in the 500m and silver in the 1000m at the European Single Distance Championships in Heerenveen last year.

Jenning de Boo (NED) is favorite to add European gold to the Dutch national sprint championship he won in December. © ISU

Apart from the Dutchmen and Liiv, Poland’s Damian Zurek, Piotr Michalski and Marek Kania, and Norway’s Bjørn Magnussen (NOR) could be in the mix for a medal.

Leerdam faces renewed Kok challenge

In the women’s field Jutta Leerdam (NED) will be chasing her third consecutive European sprint title. Two years ago Femke Kok (NED) finished as runner-up. This year, Kok missed the first half of the season with a virus.

Kok returned to the ice at the Dutch national championships, winning the first 500m. However, she decided to skip the second day of the nationals because she had not fully recovered. As a result, Kok did not meet the Dutch requirements to qualify for the European Sprint Championships, but the national federation decided to send Kok instead of Chloé Hoogendoorn (NED), who finished third at the Dutch nationals.

Femke Kok (NED) missed the early part of this season but returned at the nationals and now stands between Jutta Leerdam and a third successive sprint title. © ISU

Former Short Track queen Suzanne Schulting (NED) is the third Dutchwoman to skate the European Sprint Championships. She finished second at the national championships.

The main rivals for Leerdam, Kok and Schulting are Poland’s Andzelika Wójcik, Karolina Bosiek and Kaja Ziomek-Nogal, and 2019 European Sprint champion Vanessa Herzog (AUT). 

Roest absence leaves field open

Patrick Roest (NED) won the last two European Allround titles, but the titleholder is absent in Heerenveen this year. After missing the first half of the season due to a wisdom tooth extraction, he failed to qualify for these Championships at the Dutch national championships in December.  

With Roest absent, Sander Eitrem (NOR) could become the first non-Dutch skater to win the European Allround title since 2011, when Ivan Skobrev (RUS) triumphed in Collalbo, Italy.

With reigning champion Patrick Roest (NED) absent, Sander Eitrem (NOR) could become the first non-Dutch skater to win the Allround title in 14 years. © ISU

Eitrem faces competition from Dutchmen Beau Snellink, Chris Huizinga and Marcel Bosker (NED), who finished on top of the Allround podium at the Dutch national championships in that order two weeks ago.

Etrem’s compatriot Peder Kongshaug could also be in the mix. Although more of a middle-distance specialist, Kongshaug showed excellent form when he skated an unofficial 3000m world record (3:36.74) at a trial run in Heerenveen last week.

Bart Swings (BEL), who has already won silver (2016) and bronze (2017 and 2023) at the European Allround Championships, will also be present, as will Davide Ghiotto (ITA). If the Italian long-distance specialist is able to keep his short distance losses limited, he might be able to catch up in the 5000m and 10,000m.

Beune the Allround favorite 

In the women’s competition, Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (NED) is chasing a fourth consecutive European title, but she’s not the outright favorite after finishing third at the Dutch national championships two weeks ago, with Joy Beune (NED) and Merel Conijn (NED) finishing first and second. Rijpma-De Jong has focused more on the shorter distances lately, gaining speed at the expense of her long-distance abilities.

World Allround champion Beune is not the fastest sprinter, but she is able to skate consistently over the four required distances, and will be aiming at the title despite never having finished on the European Allround podium before.

Joy Beune (NED) has the consistency across the four distances to break Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong's stranglehold on the European Allround title. © ISU

Ragne Wiklund (NOR), who came second behind Rijpma-De Jong at the 2023 European Allround Championships in Hamar, will be Beune’s main rival.

Format and schedule

The Sprint Championships are held on Friday and Saturday with a 500m and a 1000m for both genders on each day. The Allround Championships are scheduled on Saturday and Sunday. 

The men will skate the 500m and the 5000m on the first day, followed by the 1500m and the 10,000m on the second. The women face the 500m and the 3000m on Saturday, followed by the 1500m and 5000m on Sunday. 

Ragne Wiklund (NOR) won 3000m gold at the Beijing World Cup in November and will be Beune and Rijpma-de Jong's main rival for the European Allround title this weekend. © ISU

In both the Sprint and the Allround tournaments the final ranking is based on the so-called 'samalog' score over four distances. The 'samalog' system converts times into points, with the 500m as the starting point. For a 500m race, the number of seconds counts as the number of points. For the 1000m the number of seconds is divided by two to calculate the number of points; for the 1500m it’s divided by three, for the 3000m by six, for the 5000m by 10 and for the 10,000m by 20.

For all information about the ISU European Speed Skating Championships, please visit the webpage here.