Pictures from Ice Speedskating

Wednesday 16th March 2011, the speedskating season 2010-2011 is now over.

About a year ago, I made reservations for a holiday house in Inzell, I purchased tickets and was wondering what the post-olympic season would bring me. Now, a year later, my eyes are wondering of to the calendar for next season, but I'm still recovering from this season.

I managed to visit 15 differant events, and in total visited 31 days of competitions, 6 national competions, 9 international of which 4 abroad. I have travelled to Berlin, Poland, Finland and South-Germany.

I posted over 3.500 photos online on this site, and probably shot more than ten times the amount of images, bringing the total to 333 giga bytes on my harddrive.

And now...? All that is left is to tell you something about the last & final competition of this season and then it's really done.. over... the end. I'm always a little melancholic about this moment. When you live and breath nothing else but speed skating for 5 intens month, there is a huge big black hole waiting for you when spring arrived. And spring has arrived, in all it's glory.

After the minus 24 degrees in Finland, it was already strange to see the daffodills peaking their head out of fresh green grass in front of my house, but in Inzell there was still some snow left. The hills were green but the top of the mountains was still covered in snow. After an 8 hour drive to the south of germany, we immediatly visited the new icerink and I was very excited to see the new oval. So bright and so much glass. I did worry a little bit about the strange reflections of light on the ice, but it was great to be there.

Walking/climbing around Inzell (Germany)

The next day, we went for a nice walk in the sun with the dogs, only we took a wrong turn and managed to climb over icy roads on to a steep hill. When we were climbing for 2 hours straight, we decided to head back as we realized we were not on the easy even path and it would take another two hours to get back. I wanted to visit the training in the afternoon, but unfortunatly, the rink was closed for spectators. Workmen were still carrying around metal constructions and dirt was flying around everywhere. We found an open door and managed to take a few sneak peaks of the oval.

From the commentators booth

We went back to the village were we enjoyed some coffee with the traditional 'kuche' thats german for cake or pie or whatever delicious name you want to give it. As we still had some time to spear, as we couldn't watch the icetraining, we decided to head to Bad Reichenhall, another village, not far from Inzell where we ended up in some Carnaval festivities. When the sun started to set, we headed back to our holiday home because the next morning we would have a long day, as we decided to go to Salzburg, which is only 30 kilometers away from Inzell.

View on the Dom of Salzburg from the hill

Salzburg, in Austria, was a pleasant surprise. I was in control of the doggies, two cocker spaniels, and had all the time in the world, to just look around and soak up the athmosphere in the city. At the central square in front of the Dome, I had a nice chat with two students psychology at the University and enjoyed the warm and sunny weather. The dogs were not allowed into the castle at the top of the city, so we decided to stay together and walk in the park at the hill. From here we had some lovely views over the city and I think this was even nicer than the museum and the castle.

View on Salzburg and the castle from the hills

Me and the dogs, left: Taffie, right: Billie (both English cocker spaniels)

I really had a good time in Salzburg and I can definatly see it's attraction to, for example, Anni Friesinger who was brought up in Inzell but now also lives in Salzburg. It's a bigger city but feels really down to earth and is not over touristic but still has some nice features which makes it worth visiting. Off course, it was not the tourist season but there were enough Americans and Irish to buy souveniers!

That night, I was a little anxious. Okey, all the walking in the sun and the kaffee mit kuche, is really nice and the Salzburg trip was wonderfull, but now it was really time for some speedskating! I mean, that was the reason we were there, wasn't it?! We first went to visit the Kia Speed Skating academy which was now officially opened. I'm really curious who will train and live there the next couple of month and I think it's such a simple but groundbreaking concept. For more info, visit the site: www.speedskatingacademy.com

Me with World Record Holder in the 500 meter: Canadian Jeremy Wotherspoon

Where waiting outside, Jeremy Wotherspoon, sprint coach at the academy walked by, and as he is one of my biggest heroes in Speed Skating, I had to have a little photo together. As a photographer, at the icerink, I continously run into all the athletes, but every now and then, the little 'fan' inside me, comes out and results in these pictures. I really hope to run into Jer a couple more times as he will continue to be active in the speed skating world.

After this, is was finally time to go to the icerink where the opening ceremony had already begun. It turned out, we didn't miss much, as it was a whole bunch of speeches and gratitudes from German officials and ISU representatives. The traditional dances by Bayern locals was fun though.

The World Single Distance Championships 2011 in Inzell at the new Max Aicher Arena started with the 3.000meter for Ladies, which I explained to my mother, would probably be won by Martina Sablikova, and although Ireen Wust, raced a good race, this wouldn't be her day as this wasn't her best distance. Boy, was I wrong! And boy, I was happy to be wrong. Dutch girl Ireen Wust won the race and the whole dutch crowd (7.500 people) went nuts.

Ireen Wust, racing a phenomenal 3k

After this race, the 1.500m event for Men was set. One of my favorite distances and I was very happy with the good race of Canadian Lucas Makowsky. A little bit disappointed that Denny Morrison didn't do so well, but this fact was made up by the great bronze medal for Lucas. When the last race between Shani Davis and Norwegian Havard Bokko was down to the last lap, the whole arena almost exploded. The whole south corner was filled with 3.500 Norwegian fans, the rest of the seats and stands were filled with Dutch skating enthousiastics. When Havard Bokko crossed the finish line first, I think everybody was releaved: finally! He has his grand prize. So happy for Havard.

Havard Bokko on his victory lap after just winning the world title in the 1.500m event

Day 2 of the World Single Distance Championships didn't go so well for me. Stomach ache and naucious waves made me run outside more than photograph the event. Especially when the nice lady next to me, decided it was time to drink a nice cup of warm milk, I was sick to my stomach. The smell! Urgh. However, a deserved gold medal for Shani Davis, another gold for Ireen Wust and the great exciting race of Bob de Jong in the 5.000 meter, made it worth while to stick around.

Bob de Jong listens to the Dutch National Anthem, while Russian Ivan Skobrev is shocked by the fact they put up the French flag for him.

Day 3 would be a long day. The 1.000 meter event for ladies was something to look forward to, but the 10k for men and the 5k for ladies was something to dread. Both longest distances in one day... we were doing some serious time calcullations and my parents went back to the village to walk with the dogs and come back in time for the last races, while I stayed at the icerink and actually saw some nice races. I had good compagny at the icerink and before we knew it, the final pairs of the 10k were already there and Bob de Jong put up a great show and an exciting race. Faster and faster, resulting in the fastest 10k skated in Europe, beating Sven Kramer's old Thialf time.

Christine Nesbitt (CAN) earns her well deserved gold medal in the 1.000m ladies event

Bob de Jong (NED) estatic with his race and another gold in the 10k

After all these races, the day wasn't over yet and the ladies put up quite a show, which made me watch even the 5.000 meter for ladies. Normally the event I like the least, but when you see Martina Sablikova from Czech, skate the way she does, it's worth to stick around. After the silver in the 3k, which was surprisingly won by Ireen Wust, she now claimed the gold, followed by Germans Stefanie Beckert and even Claudia Pechstein got back on the podium again.

Martina Sablikova carries around the Czech flag after winning the 5k

A little bit dazzeled by such a long day and so much skating and great moments, we returned to our little appartment. The next day, I woke up with a knob in my stomach. The last and final day of the World Single Distance Championships and also the last and final day of a great season. More than a year, I had been looking forward to the "WK Afstanden in Inzell" and now it was already almost over.

We went to the icerink for the 500 meter Ladies and Men and the Team Pursuit. After the long distances yesterday, it was a little bit surprising to see the skaters pass by in such high speeds as they did in the 500 meter events. Especially the men had some troubles with the last corners, maybe the radius is tighter or the ice was not good in the last outher corner, but we saw a few skaters fall unfortunatly. When this happens, everybody is in shock, but when it happens pair after pair, you are starting the dread the last corner and almost expect somebody to fall.

Yuya Oikawa (JPN) completly dissapears under the cushions

Luckily, many skaters did manage to keep skating and we withnessed some great races. Dutch boy Jan Smeekens was in the lead with 1 hundreth of a second after the first 500m and German lady of sprint, Jenny Wolf claimed her gold after two solid races in Inzell. The second 500m for men was phenomenal, with a great race by good old Italian Ermanno Ioriatti, sensational racing by Russian Dmitry Lobkov and a spectaculair race and time of 34,32 by Korean Kyou-Hyuk Lee. Four times World Sprint Champion Lee and now also the king in the 500 meter.

Dmitry Lobkov (RUS)

Kyou-Hyuk Lee from Korea won, followed by Japanese Skater Joji Kato, who was the world champion the last time in 2005 in Inzell and the bronze was claimed by dutch boy Jan Smeekens, which is quite a surprise, but well deserves as I might say, being dutch and all.

Koreans Kyou-Hyuk Lee celebrating his victory and great time

After these exciting races, it was time for the team pursuit. The change between the differant events, took some time and I was a little bit disappointed (to read later) that this time was not used to have an official good bye for Inzell's home girl Anni Friesinger, who retired after the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

But soon, the Team Pursuit ladies started with top favorites Canada to start first. Cindy Klassen, Brittany Schussler and Christine Nesbitt showed they could also do it without team-member Kristina Groves and set the fastest time of the day. It's such a nice view to watch those woman skate in sync and completly rely on each other after years and years of training together and team building. One by one, the Germans, the Russians, the Japanese and also the Dutch, couldn't crack the time set by the Canadians, which resulted in the gold medal for team Canada!!

Brittany Schussler, Christine Nesbitt and Cindy Klassen racing as Team Canada

In the men's event, the Dutch team was first out and had to set a time for the other teams to crack. This wasn't succesfull as the American Dream Team with Shani Davis, Trevor Marsicano and Jonathan Kuck showed how it was done best. I had my hopes up for team Canada, and was wishing for a double sweep in both the ladies and the men's team pursuit, but this wish didn't come true, as the Canadian team by Lucas Makowsky, Mathieu Giroux and Denny Morrison failed in the last lap, after being ahead of the Americans time the whole race. I think a small curse escaped from my lips after they crossed the finish, but even I couldn't ignore the great racing by Team USA.

Team USA: Jonathan Kuck, Trevor Marsicano and Shani Davis racing for gold.

After the last two victory ceremonies for the Team Pursuit, we went outside. People were lingering around the oval, finishing their last beer, taking down banners and flags and just not wanting to go home. For me, this was the same. Just chatting with some people, hanging around the main entrance, just not wanting this season to be over. Waiting for one more moment. I was hoping to see my all time hero in speed skating, Jan Bos, one more time to say good bye, as he retired after the World Cup Final in Heerenveen, but I didn't see him unfortunatly.

Luckily for me, the Canadian Team made up for this, as they just came out together. The winnars of the Olympic gold medal in the men's Team Pursuit, Mathieu Giroux, Lucas Makowsky and Denny Morrison, raced for the first time together after their golden race in Vancouver 2010. This was the perfect opportunaty for me, for a nice photo with the golden team.

Denny Morrison, me, Lucas Makowsky and Mathieu Giroux

And that was that... went home, back to the Netherlands and back to normall every day life. No more speedskating to look forward to, for the next 7 months. No more competitions to watch or photograph, no more events to travel to, news items to check, websites to update or anything like that. Season 2010-2011 is a wrap. For me, it's my most succesfull season ever, as I made a few perfect pictures, sold a few good images and overall was more consistant in photo quality and professionality. Now it's time to focus on my study and work again. Bye bye for now, hope to see you again next season.. Can't wait!!

Naomi Schläger 

Yes, I love all speedskating events. As long as there are emotions, fast times and good competition, I love it. However, even I have some sort of extra love for a special event or special skater. From all World Championships, I think Sprint is my favorite, because there are 2 thousand meters involved and some of my favorite skaters are involved aswell.

Without a doubt, Jan Bos is my most favorite skater of all time. As a matter of fact, he is actually the main seed that grew my special interest in speedskating into a real passion. Some might even call it obsession. It was his performance in 1998, becoming the first Dutch World Sprint Champion in history of speedskating, that got me interested in a way, I could have never imagined.

Because he won gold in 1998 in Berlin, I wanted to read everything there was to read about speedskating. And there was a whole lot, as in 1998 there were also the Nagano Winter Olympics. These Olympics put extra oil on the fire of my passion and before I knew it, I was completly hooked. After the great successes of Marianne Timmer and Gianne Romme in Nagano, and the silver medal with the golden lining of Jan Bos, I expanded my horizon and also got interested in other skaters and distances and events.

Jan Bos, earlier this season in Berlin

I'm very fortunate to live in Holland, the country with the biggest and widest media attention for such a small sport. From October till deep into March, there's always something to read or watch about speedskating. It took me a few years to discover, I could also travel to differant events and after my first trip to Thialf, many more followed, resulting in a long list of ice rinks and places in Europe I've visited for the sole purpose of speedskating.

Therefor, my direct environment was baffled to discover I was not going to the World Sprint in Heerenveen. "Why not?" was the most common response, but my mind was made up. The reason is very simple: the ticket prices are sky high and I just find a ticket to Thialf getting too expensive. There is the standard ticketfee, travelling cost (I live 200 km from Heerenveen), parking fee, overnight hotel etc.etc. It's just getting too much for a normal weekend and it's also getting a matter of principle. Euro 37.50 for a place in the crowd doesn't come with a seat, or a secure spot at the icerink. Numerous times I had to fight for my place in the crowd and my health is not good enough at the moment to endure all of that.

So, last friday I was finished with another exam, after having a dreadfull week of applying for jobs and felt a little emotional drained from it all. I was looking forward to a nice quiet weekend on the couch, watching the skating on tv, chatting via twitter or forum about the events and just kick back and relax. I saw some messages about people getting ready to go to Heerenveen or were already there, which made me a little bit jealous, but I had made my decision and I had to stick with it. On my way home from the exam (which I passed, yea!) I was a little bit bored and send out a tweet to the world.

It was in dutch, but it said something like this:

"passed the exam, the weekend can start. Watching the world sprints, not live but at home #ticketstooexpensive"

That was all I tweeted into the world, and when I checked back a little bit later, I had a message from somebody I didn't even know, saying I could have his ticket for sunday. At first I was a little bit suspicious, as I'd think he wanted to sell me a ticket for two times the ticket price, as has been seen on the internet a lot. But after tweeting a little bit and some direct messages, I had a ticket for sunday! How amazing is that!?

For the remainder of the friday I was just baffled by such selfishness and genuine kindness from a stranger, but during the saturday I was getting more and more excited. Especially after seeing a jampacked Thialf stadium on tv and watching some amazing races by especially Christine Nesbitt. I think my jaw dropped seeing her skate in the 1.000m and just demolishing all of her competition with a new trackrecord. It also helped that the men event was also very excited and differances after two distances were close.

I switched from tv to internet after the races were finished, because they broadcasted online the farewell to Marianne Timmer in Thialf. 3 times Olympic Gold medalist and first and untill now only Dutch woman to become World Champion Sprint, 2 times World Champion in the 1.000m and a dozen National titles, trackrecords and world cup medals, she had her official good bye in Thialf. After the Dutch Sprint competition, she decided it was time for her to stop her career as a top athlete. A very sad moment, but it was bound to happen some day. Sitting behind my laptop, I cryed my eyes out. I can't help myself but all those amazing images of her career just make the tears drop from the corners of my eyes.

I was drawn back to the real world quickly, as I still had to make some preparations for sunday, run to the grocery store and try to find my flag, which I wanted to take with me to Thialf. Luckily I managed everything in time and was able to hang my Canadian flag on the boarding in Thialf.

Most of the Canadian skaters have signed it and as you might be able to see, the signature of Christine Nesbitt has a prominent place. She was the first to sign it, so she had plenty of space to choose as it was empty back then.

A little bit releaved, we managed to get first row, it was finally time to kick back and relax and enjoy the skating. And I did. Maybe it was because I didn't count on going anymore and it was such a surprise that I was able to go after all. Or it was just the fact that it was a really nice tournament with great results and high and lows, I don't know, but it was special again.

We saw the 500m events where surprisingly Nesbitt managed to grab a spot on the podium, getting an even firmer grip on the world title or the Japanese skater Ota, who skated to 35.04 and celebrated with the whole of Thialf as if he was a dutch skater who just won Olympic gold in his home town. And of course, there was the new trackrecord for Kyou-Hyuk Lee. The airpressure in Thialf was really high, so nobody expected anything special, but Lee set the trackrecord to 34.77 which also gave him a nice lead for the overall classification. During the icebreak, there was a weird message, that Stefan Groothuis got disqualified putting everybody into a mood of disbelief, as we in the crowd did not know why or what was going on.

Somewhere later that day, the DQ was reversed, making me even more eager to watch some videos at home to see what was going on, but at that moment, the only thing which mattered was, we had the 1.000m still to come and everybody would still be there. The ladies event was very excited if you're in an arena with 15.000 people dressed in orange and shouting for the dutch skaters. Dutch girl Annette Gerritsen defended a 0.02 second lead against her teammate Margot Boer, as they raced against each other. It wasn't pretty, but it was excited! Especially because they ranked the exact same time. In normall world cup situation enough to split the spot on the podium, but as this is a tournament and Gerritsen had 2 hundreths of a second lead, she was cheering.

The next race was still excited. There was nobody doubting Nesbitt would claim her first World Sprint title, but would she do it in again a fabulous time ranking? Or would Dutch girl Ireen Wust take the gold in at least this distance? But, I guess the biggest question on everybodies mind was: Will Jenny Wolf keep it together and stay ahead of Gerritsen? Resulting in a bronze for Gerritsen and a 4th place for Boer?? The speaker announced what time Jenny Wolf had to skate in order for Gerritsen and Boer to be on the podium and you could just hear the clock go "tick-tack" after Nesbitt crossed the finish line. Tick-tack... no Wolf yet, tick-tack still no Wolf. Once the clock stopped a roar rolled through the Thialf, as it was clear Margot Boer was also on the podium. I thought this was a little bit mean of the crowd, as Nesbitt deserved to get the biggest cheer and it's never positive to cheer for somebodies losing time, but I guess there is still loads of Nationalism left in the orange crowd if it comes to skating.

Christine Nesbitt is celebrating, in the background Jenny Wolf

Once the times were added, and not only Nesbitt, but also Gerritsen and Boer had their victory lap, it was time for the grand finale. Would Kyou-Hyuk Lee win his 4th Sprint Title? Or would Shani Davis swoop the gold away with a magical 1.000m? Or could Stefan Groothuis still make a move, after the withdrawal of the DQ? Or would runner up Mo do something surprising? Who could tell, there was only one thing we could do: just sit back and relax...

The past seasons, we have had quit a few good-byes in Thialf of some great Dutch skaters. Rintje Ritsma, Gerard van Velde, Jochem Uytehage, recently Erben Wennemars, Carl Verheijen and Renate Groenewold and the day before the farewell of Marianne Timmer. These have all been anticipated and arranged by the KNSB during an event in Thialf. Nevertheless, they cannot manage what the crowd does, so after Jan Bos was finished skating his 1.000m the whole crowd just started to cheer and everybody just kept on going and going ... and going.. "Heia Jan Bos, Heia Jan Bos...Heia Heia Heia Jan Bos."

It had a ring to it and it's easy on the ears, but everybody just kept on going and going. Needless to say, I ran out of tissues...

Video clip of Thialf singing "Heia Jan Bos"

Even after everybody got silent for the start of the next pair in the 1.000m, the whole Thialf just started over again during the race. And this wasn't even his last race! He will still race in Moscow and World cup Final in Thialf and I sure hope to see him race in Inzell for the World Championships, but I guess there is nothing more touching and moving, as a sincere spontanious tribute. I made a small video of the noise in the stadium.

Ater all this, races continued of course, so before we knew it, it was time for the grand finale.Stefan Groothuis managed to skate a very decent 1.000m, giving him the lead in the 1.000m at that moment, but Tae-Bum Mo managed to stay ahead of him in the overall classification. But then it was time for the final pair, Shani Davis vs Kyou-Hyuk Lee. Davis won the 1.000m and Lee skated well enough to maintain the lead in the overall ranking, but it took some time and procession before everything was 100% clear. To see the expression on the skaters faces, when they realize they did or did not manage their position is priceless for me. That's passion!

Kyou-Hyuk Lee, 4 times World Champion Sprint

So, after all the skaters had skated their races, the horses came on the ice. Two sleighs were drawn by two gorgeous Friesian horses which gives a championship title a little something extra. They were pacing up and down the straight during the medal ceremony and it was really nice to hear the national anthems of Canada for Nesbitt and Korea for Lee. But of course, the moment everybody was waiting for, was when the athletes got in the sleigh and were drawn around the oval. I think pictures say more than words in this matter.

The two sleighs with the horses

Kyou-Hyuk Lee

Firing on the crowd

Christine Nesbitt

Nesbitt her flowers

And then.. it was really over. Being chased away by security, we were the last ones to leave the oval, leaving the rink empty and for the first time that day I was cold. Driving back home, we ended up in a traffic jam, but for me it didn't really matter, as I had an unexspected wonderfull day. With special thanks to the person from Twitter, who offered me his ticket. Peter Thank you!!

Naomi Schläger

My friend and I are huge fans of cheap city trips and we have some good adresses to book cheap flights. So, when we were planning our travel to the World Allrounds in Hamar, Norway, we couldn't find a ticket to Oslo that was cheap enough. But we did find an affordable ticket to Stockholm- Sweden.

And that's why we were travelling to Hamar via Stockholm. On tuesday we left from the local airport to Stockholm. The flight was fast and nice and soon we found ourselves in a Ford Focus Wagon, driving through the Swedish country-side. For two girls who both have a little box on wheels, this felt like living life the extra-de-luxe style.

We arrived in Stockholm and had 2 amazing days. What a nice and friendly town. The old city center was pretty and pleasant. The people were friendly and we had a blast going in and out every souvernir shop and shooting pics of our selves.

On thursday we left for a long roadtrip to Norway. We stopped at the local Bauhaus to get some new sticks for the Forza Enrico banner and we decided to visit the mother-ship of mother-ships: Ikea in Sweden. We had a nice breackfast and in little over 7 hours we arrived in a small town, close to the norwegian airport.

We would stay with Kirsti, a mutal friend who loves speedskating and is a highly skilled and wellknown speedskating photographer. You can visit her website: www.speedskatingphotos-by-biseth.com.

On friday we visited Oslo and prepared for the tournament to come.

I was quite nervous as I have never been to the Vikingskipet in Hamar before and from what I've seen on tv it was a great place to see some speedskating. We drove to Hamar and we could walk in the Vikingskipet without any troubles. No waiting in line, no pushing, no shoving and no running. We found a great spot, just at the 1.500m start and waiting for the things to happen.

And I must say, I was overwhelmed. I've never been to such an imposing icerink. The roof is amazing and the lines of the wooden beams almost hypnotise you. Soon, the event started and we had a great time. There were a lot of norwegian and dutch fans, and the athmosphere was enthousiastic. We were all there for 1 common goal: to have a great time and watch some nice speedskating.

The ladies kicked off with the 500m that Nesbitt won. Martina Sablikova did really well and was ahead of her closest opponants for the title. The men 500m was exciting, because Sven Kramer didn't do as well as he might have wanted to and Havard Bokko skated to a time of 35,99. But, Denny Morrison was faster and skated to 35,55 a seasons best for him.

The 3.000m ladies was next and was won by Martina Sablikova. She was steady in the lead and seemed to go straight for the title. The 5.000m men was exciting and at that time, the vikingskipet was packed. It seemed like half of Norway was there at the icerink. Sven Kramer didn't start in the last pair and had to set a time for the rest. He was in the lead by the end of day 1.

In a heavy snowblizzard we drove home. Normally it would take 1 hour to drive back from Hamar, but now it took us 2,5 hours. All stressed out we finnaly made it home. It snowed so badly, they even had to close the airport. Therefor we decided to leave earlier on sunday and at 10 o' clock we were at the oval. We had to wait a short while, but again, without any problems, we got inside the Vikingskipet.

Today wasn't nearly as packed as the day before and with the start of the 1.500m right in front of us, we had a nice spot at the oval. I met with some familiar faces again and heared Claudia Pechstein was out. She had a high fever and stayed in bed that day. This news gave a big blow to the biggest dutch Claudia Pechstein fan.

But soon the championship started again and Kristina Groves won the 1.500m ladies. The 1.500m men was tradition one of the most exciting races during the allround competition. My favorite had to race against my friends favorite. This caused some friendly rivalery on the stands. Enrico Fabris and Denny Morrison set out for a great race. Too bad, they didn't beat the best time at that moment and neither of them ended up on the podium at this distance. At that moment, I could feel people moving in on me and the excitement was bussing in the air. It was time for Sven Kramer against Havard Bokko.

I must admit, I can't remember the last time I saw such an exciting race. At home, I watched it over and over, but on tv it doesn't capture the madness going on at the icerink at that time. The crowd went mad when Havard Bokko was in the lead. The dutch fans cheered for Sven Kramer and the whole icerink was standing, afraid to miss a little bit of the race. When Havard Bokko came over the finishline as the winner, a huge smile broke through on all the stands. What an amazing race.

Unfortunatly, it didn't change anything in the overall classification, but it was a race to remember! The ladies 5.000m was won by Martina Sablikova and at the moment she realized she also won the overall championship, she jumped up in the air. Threw herself in the arms of coach Petr Novak and made a spontanuous victory lap around the track.

The mens 10.000 meter was a real fight. Havard Bokko and Sven Kramer made it into a real spectacle. They challenged each other and one lap Kramer was leading the race, the other Bokko took over and was leading. It was an amazing fight with some weird laptimes, but it was exciting to watch. Who ever thinks the 10.000meters should be skipped from the programme because it's boring, should watch this race. But, Sven Kramer was too strong for Havard Bokko and at the end, he skated away from his opponent and won the 10k and the World Allround Championship title. This for the 3rd time in a row making him already a legend.

After the victory ceremonie we left Hamar and we left the Vikingskipet. It was amazing to go there once and see the Norwegian Oval and experiance the atmosphere. The championship was exciting and we saw some amazing races and had a good time.

On monday the snowing had stopped and we drove from Norway back to Sweden in a winter wonder land. The sky was crips and clear and bright blue. The roads were clean and everywhere we looked we saw heaps and heaps of snow, making it like a magical christmas card where we had to drive though.

After a nice tour around the Swedish countryside we arrived at the airport and crashed in a hotel. What an exhausting week it had been! On tuesday we flew home, back to Holland and said goodbye. But not for long, because we would meet again on Saturday for the World Cup in Heerenveen.

Written for "Spot News" www.speedskating-online.com

After a week of well-deserved rest and recovery time much needed after the World Cup Final in Heerenveen, it was time for the last competition of the season. And what a competition it was. Four days of speed skating!

The WSDC took place in Nagano, Japan, making it a bit more difficult for me to fly over there and attend it myself. After all, there is more in life than speed skating. But since these were the last races of the season, I didn't want to miss anything. And luckily I didn't have to. Thanks to the great people of the NOS (Dutch television), I was able to see everything, from start to finish and beyond. And live!

It did mean I had to get up in the middle of the night to watch the skating, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. It's rather special to go to bed early; setting the alarm clock, knowing you will get up the other day at an insane hour and not even mind. And that's exactly what happened. Those four days my alarm went of at 5.45 am or even 3.15 am. All those times I didn't have any trouble getting out of bed, and just when I switched my television on, the tune of Studio Sport woke me up.

I installed myself with a cup of tea on the couch, curled up in a blanket and had my laptop within reach. Because it's not only watching the skating, but also during the cleaning of the ice, talking about it on a skating forum. And when you think I am the only one in Holland who does this, you are more than wrong. Actually, it was quite busy on the internet and it's nice to know you are not alone.

Day 1 and 2 were interesting, but missed that little extra for me. My favourites would only race in the weekend. But nevertheless I watched it all. And then at 9 or 6 o'clock, when the skating was over, I returned to normal everyday life.

 On Saturday the 1000m for men was on the program and I had been looking forward to this the entire week. This was it. The Dutch guys didn't really make a good impression and I was quite disappointed that the ice wasn't as good as we all had hoped for. The old track records were not smashed like expected, but just improved with a small difference. I watched the last pair of the 1000m biting my fingernails. Unfortunately, my personal favourite, Denny Morrison, didn't do as well as I had hoped for, and he finished third. I was happy that he made the podium, but he had been either second or first the entire season, so being third was a bit of a disappointment.

I didn't have much time to sob over it, because I had to go to my new home to do some work there and my helpers were waiting for me. The entire Saturday I didn't think about speed skating. The only thing on my mind was painting, putting up wallpaper and more stuff like that. Luckily everything went so smooth and quickly, we were finished by the end of the day. I returned home, more than exhausted.

I went to bed that night, contemplating to miss out on the first distance the next day and just sleep a little bit longer. But sometime during the night I decided to wake up early and just watch it all. It was the last day of competition of the season; I would be able to recover from it for the next six months. So, at 5.45 am on a nice Sunday morning I tuned in.

First the 1000m ladies, which was won by top favourite Anni Friesinger. I think this wasn't a surprise for no-one and I more or less expected Shani Davis to do the same in the 1500m. He had been the best in many 1500m's this season and he always seemed to be able to win, whomever he had to beat. In the ninth pair my favourite had to skate against Dutchman Sven Kramer. He is absolutely the undisputed champion in the longer distances, and he can also skate a very good 1500m. But I just don't want him to win the 1500m. If he would do so, he would get even more media attention and in my opinion get even more arrogant. So, him being paired with Denny Morrison made me wish even harder for Morrison to at least beat Sven Kramer.

During the race, I was at the edge of my couch, biting in my sweater to prevent myself from screaming and waking up the rest of the house. I saw Morrison get in the slipstream of Kramer twice at the cross-over. It just looked really well and I couldn't believe they skated such a good time. But my main focus was on the fact that whatever would happen, Sven wouldn't be the champion. I was so relieved!! And of course very happy with the time set by Morrison.

But after their pair, Shani Davis had to race. The opener was more or less the same as Morrison's, but Davis' first lap was 2 tenth of a second faster. I shook my head and knew Davis would beat Morrison. Again! But something strange happened and for some weird reason, when Davis crossed the finish line, his time was slower than the 1.45.22 skated by Denny Morrison.

By this time, my heart was racing. All possible traces of fatigue were vanished. I was wide awake and adrenaline was pumping through my body. All kinds of thoughts were tumbling through my mind. But before I had a chance to gather them, the last pair was racing. Halfway through the race, I already saw it wasn't going to be enough to beat the 1.45.22 and that's when the rest of the house woke up from me screaming of joy and cheering for what was going on in Japan.

I sat in front of my television and watched how Denny Morrison became World Champion in the 1500m. It took me three seconds and then it hit me: I had to get to work. In December I started the website www.denny-morrison.com and of course I had to update it as soon as possible. This took me almost the entire day, because videos and pictures were pouring in. With one eye on the television and the other one on my computer, the rest of the competition passed by.

The men's Team Pursuit was quite interesting to watch and after a lot of interviews and skating discussion, the sports program was finished and I switched off my television. The screen went black and my room turned silent. I took a look around, and saw all the signs I made over the last season. I saw a framed picture of one of the skaters and memories of the past season flashed through my mind. I have made so many great friends this season who also love speed skating. My whole life has emerged to a higher level and I must say, this has been one of the best winters ever. Usually, I just hope for winter to pass by as quickly as possible, so summer can arrive. But this winter, I have actually enjoyed winter itself.

But now it is over. The speed skating season 2007-2008 is finished. No more skating until October. I swallowed and felt empty.

Of course, I have plenty of other things to do and summer is also more than nice, but the first couple of weeks, when summer is not there yet, there is an empty void left. In winter, my days are filled with skating and planning skating trips or recovering and reliving competitions. And I think it just has to sink in that it is over.

But, of course, I wouldn't be me if I wasn't already thinking about next season and the plans we have for another fascinating winter. But for now, this is it. I hope you all enjoyed my little writing. I did. Have a nice summer and perhaps see you again next season.

Naomi Schläger

Written for "Spot News" www.speedskating-online.com

Well dear readers, it's a good thing I don't work for radio or television and can manage with the written word, because I have lost my voice. And my mother always used to say "If you lost something, try to remember where you put it", but in this case I know exactly where I left it. In Berlin, Germany, at the ice rink. I have been cheering so loudly I completely lost my voice.

But it was worth it. Although it was insane for me to hop to Berlin and back, I am very happy that I did it. On Monday I got back from Baselga and on Friday I took the night bus to Berlin. At the very last minute I found an advertisement for one single ticket for the World All-rounds. And because I enjoyed it so much last year and because this season I'm completely hooked on speed skating, I just had to go. And so I did.

And again, it was so different. I had to sit down during the event! Amazing! We, me and 63 other people, left the hotel just one hour before the competition started and we just walked through the gate, sat down and the races began. It felt so weird. I was all nervous because I thought we wouldn't make it on time, but of course we did, but unfortunately we missed out on the warm-up. But hey, can't have it all.

And this time, we were also practically with our noses on the ice. With a bench, where the skaters prepare for their race, right in front of us. So we could see and hear almost everything again. And what new things about life on the ice have I discovered?

Some skaters re-tie their shoe-laces over and over again. Then loosen them again and re-tie them again! And again! As a speed skater it's perfectly normal to completely bitch at a camera guy when you're not feeling happy with your racing.The speed skaters have so much fun with each other. Analyzing the race together and everything.And last week I talked about the stuff some coaches utter on the ice while coaching their skaters. A funny thing happened, which I guess everybody missed back home. Canadian Steven Elm was racing and his coach Marcel Lacroix was shouting, while he entered the corner: "Hips, Hips, Hips!" I can't remember which distance it was, but this happened a few laps in a row, when all of a sudden the people on the stands started to repeat it. Yelling with 100 people: "Hips, Hips, Hips!" Lacroix seemed to appreciate it, because he fired up the crowd a bit and the next lap he just didn"t have to do anything, because we all coached Steven Elm through his corner.

And although it was an exhausting weekend, it was also very much worth being there. My favourite speed skater, Denny Morrison, didn't compete in Baselga, but was there in Berlin and actually did very well. He finished first in the 500m, which was new for me because this was the first time I was present when he won. But I also had some nerve wrecking moments, when he skated the 5k and the 10k. Which on one hand is nice, because then you can enjoy the skating a little bit longer than in the 500m, but on the other hand it's also killing for your voice, because it means you have to shout for 25 laps in a row. And that's how I lost my voice.

It was no surprise Sven Kramer won the All-round title, so he was the man of the weekend. A new friend at the ice rink wanted to see if we could spot him at the back, so I agreed to go with her. I knew it would be a mission impossible, but I went with her anyways, because I always have the problem of not being able to leave after the competition is over. I lingered around, just not wanting to face the fact it really was over.

But in this case, it was worth it. Not that we could take a picture of Sven Kramer, but we saw a whole bunch of other skaters. Actually, while waiting for Håvard Bøkko to come outside, I saw a Canadian guy getting in a van. I wasn't sure, but I decided to take a better look, just to be sure. And much to my own surprise it was Denny Morrison, packing his stuff, ready to go. Earlier that day, he finished second in the 1500m and he still had the flowers from that ceremony, which he gave to me. We took a nice picture and after that we even caught Shani Davis outside, who was more than willing to get in the picture with us. Unfortunately, we didn't see Sven Kramer, but after all this, I was ready to leave and go home.

And there I was, in the bus, holding a bouquet of flowers. I must say, after a bus journey of more than 13 hours, even the flowers looked better than me and I was so relieved to be back home again. That is to say; my body is back home, because I left my voice in Berlin. And it seems I left my thoughts on the ice too, because since I've been back, I haven't really done much else than thinking about this weekend, the previous weekends and the upcoming weekends. Maybe it's a good thing the speed skating season is almost over, because then I can focus on my other hobbies again!

Naomi Schläger

Written for "Spot News" www.speedskating-online.com

If you say "Thialf, Heerenveen", you say Dutch fans in orange outfits, dancing and singing and cheering for every skater that passes by. A lot of the Dutch people like speed skating in some way or the other, and the last huge event in Heerenveen, the World All-round Championships in February 2007, was broadcasted live on national television. And yes, the program had the most viewers of all television programs in 2007. It was viewed by 3,9 million people, almost ¼ of all the people living in Holland.

But that was on television, and 11,000 people in the stadium itself. No wonder people are considering speed skating in Heerenveen as something you have to see for yourself sometime, some day?

It's not easy to get tickets, you already know this if you've read my other blogs. But what happens on the day itself? Let me tell you how I've experienced the World Sprint Championships last weekend.

On Saturday my alarm clock wakes me up at 5 am. You may think I want to snooze a little bit and stay in bed a little while longer, but not me. I jump out of bed and I'm having trouble brushing my teeth because of the big smile that is on my face. I love the sprint distances. These distances are the best distances of my favourite speed skaters, or are they my favourites because they are the best in these distances? Either way, I am really looking forward to this weekend.

It's pitch dark outside and it's also raining cats and dogs when I get into my car. I will drive to Caat again, leave my car at her place, and together we will drive to Heerenveen. We arrive there at 9 am. The others are already waiting and we catch up a little bit. We talk to each other every day, but I haven't seen the girls since the last World Cup in Heerenveen, in December.

We are hiding under a huge piece of plastic, keeping us all warm and dry. You can feel the tension in the line. Everybody is talking and laughing and every few minutes we get some strange faces looking at us, because maybe we're laughing a little bit too loud. But I don't care. Time flies when you're having fun and we are having a lot of fun and we need to kill a whole lot of time.

Tension is building when the security guys start to check our bags and tickets. More and more people are lining up behind us, and fortunately for us, there are not that many people in front of us. More and more security people are gathering, and stewards are waiting at the stairs. We are with four girls and we have a strategy: who will hold which bag, who will go first and crazy stuff like that. Finally we are allowed to walk to the stairs. We have to walk all the way around the stadium and this is really the fastest 300 meters I've ever walked. The rain is pouring down on us, I step into huge puddles of water, am being shoved in the back, kicked against my shins, punched against my arms and get beaten once or twice. And we are still walking in a sort of running way.

It must be hilarious to watch, but it's also dead serious business. Once we are at the north side of the stadium, the stewards are letting us go and we run to the last stairs. In 2 seconds the stairs are filled with people and once everybody has settled down a bit, we discover it's already 11.20 am. The doors will open at 12 o'clock. In the meantime it's no longer just raining but water is pouring down on us. In 5 seconds everybody is soaked to the bone. This is really no fun at all! I am wondering why I am doing this and I'm thinking to myself that there better be some really good waving action from my favourite speed skaters to make up for all this crap!!

But it gets even worse! At twelve o'clock, there is still no movement at the door. We wait and we wait. I try to tell myself that the doors will open when they will open and that I just have to be patient. I think of myself as a person with a whole lot of good qualities, and yes, also some bad things. And let me tell you this: patience is not one of my good ones. It takes forever and then, all of a sudden we hear only 1 door will open, instead of 2. Okay, then we really are in poll position, because we are standing at the door that is supposed to be opened!

And then finally, the door opens and we all run inside. We jump down the stairs all the way to the left, and settle for a spot at the most left corner. I can only imagine what an absolutely hilarious sight it must be for a speed skater, doing some warming up on the ice, and then all of a sudden the doors are opened and you see a huge horde of wild fans galloping down the stairs!! And they are all shouting and yelling, like in a Braveheart scene or something.

But back to me, I jump down; following my friend in front of me. Unzip my coat; throw my rucksack on the floor. Dig up my special banner and start saving some space for it. It all goes so fast. I hear people closing in on us, people pushing and I'm trying to tape down my banner to the boarding. 4 people and 2 banners. One normal size, one is huge, so we need a lot of space. But then I look up at the ice rink. I believe I still have a piece of duct tape in my mouth and I see my favourite speed skater, Denny Morrison, waving at us! I forget about the waiting, the rain, the sore feet, the bruises and the lack of sleep: I'm all good now! This is why I did it all. I'm feeling happy and I just feel a huge grin breaking though on my face. Of course, with the duct tape in my mouth and my hands keeping the banner in place, there's no room to wave back, but I don't care!

Once we've settled down, the ice is almost empty. It's almost 1 o'clock now, and within half an hour the Championships will start. We amuse ourselves by talking to other people and taking photos. I also have to defend my banner, because some steward thinks it represents a business and he is already trying to pull it down! I can only just prevent that from happening! This guy and I will never be friends! But with a bit of laughter and a joke the bad things of the weekend fade to the background.

Of course I've come to see a nice Championship and some nice speed skating at the stadium, but having a favourite out there on the ice, makes me focus on one person in particular and this gives a whole different perspective on how I've experienced this event. I try to spot the skaters we support the minute they step on to the ice. That's a good 250 meters away from where we are standing. And also a good 250 meters to adjust the camera and get ready to show your support. In every possible way you can imagine. It's good there is no sound to this blog, because we were trying to come up with some original noises to 'show our support'. Haha.

And you might think: how busy can someone be with all that? They only skate 2 distances per day, but being with 4 people, we keep an eye out for all our favourite skaters, being: Jan Bos, The Canadian team (Labrie, Morrison and Wotherspoon), Håvard Bøkko, The Russians and Nick Pearson, and well, now that we're at it, also the other Dutch skaters and the podium candidates, the Koreans, the Chinese and the Finnish guys, because they are really funny. We do this because it's always nice to have a nice action shot of one of the medal winners. So pretty much half of the contestants.

I won't bother you people with who skated which time or something, because you can read that elsewhere, and to be honest, I don't remember a lot of the times and the races we saw. The entire day more or less consisted of clapping, shouting, cheering, taking pictures, filming and keeping an eye out for some interesting people, on the track and off the track.

The first day of the Championships is a long stand, the four distances take a pretty long time and I guess tomorrow the final will be more interesting. I'm almost relieved day 1 is over, because I can barely stay on my feet. We go home immediately. I upload my pictures and am pretty happy with the results of day 1. I review day 1 on MSN with an insider, so this day couldn't have ended any better. That night I fall asleep almost immediately.

The next morning I'm pleased to wake up and not hear any rain against the window. We get ready for day 2, but once we get into the car, and drive up north, it's raining: again! But, who cares, we will be there and it will be a fantastic day. We are a bit worried though. Because the waiting and the running on day 1 wasn't really something we would want to do another time, but we have no choice: we have to.

Fortunately for us, we are having more fun than ever, and time is flying. But unfortunately for us, the walking/ running is even more painful and agonizing than it was the day before, but the result is alright in the end. First row, again. We are a bit surprised though, because when we enter the stadium, we are the first ones to enter, but there are already some people standing at 'our' spot. But there's no time to think and we install ourselves a little bit more to the right. It turns out to be an even better spot for taking pictures, so everybody is happy.

Caat even brought the video camera, and that thing is the cause of some crazy moments. She asked me not to shout the way I normally do, because that is really loud on camera. We want a shot of Denny Morrison waving, but waving is not his favourite action on the ice. So, when he is slowly getting started and passing by in an abnormally slow pace, it's THE perfect moment. We all think he's going to wave, so we are just standing there. Surprised and giggly. Well maybe you should have been there to see us, to see the moment. To see Morrison, who is really confused why his 'fan club' is just gasping at him and you just have to see the video footage we shot, but the moment was hilarious. Maybe even more, because Caat was shouting at me: 'Say something you stupid dork, I'm filming!' And the rest she said, will not be repeated here... But she filmed it all, and when the next Canadian is skating by, we are cheering and he starts to wave very enthusiastically. Somebody in the background says: 'That's how it's supposed to be!' And the next shot is of Håvard Bøkko, us shouting, and him waving in a very cool way.

Get the picture? Well, let's just say it was very funny all together and once we'll figure out how the footage can be put onto a computer, maybe we will share this with all of you.

But unfortunately, it's not a day of just laughter. There are also big tears. Big fat tears of disappointment. Jan Bos is in pole position for the podium and he will race against Wotherspoon in the 500 meters, but at the crossover, he falls. The whole stadium is in shock. But once he stands up, the whole stadium starts singing 'Heia Jan Bos' and this over and over again, minutes and minutes long. I'm a bit nauseous but the show must go on?.

So no Dutch men on the podium, but it doesn't really matter. Everybody in the Thialf is enjoying themselves and we all have a fabulous weekend. Vincent Labrie stops by when the races are over to give a gift and to thank us for our support and we are all in shock of such a nice way to say thanks. Once the medal ceremony is over, we are having some troubles leaving. We don't want to leave; I can't believe it's over? So we hang around a bit more, take some pictures and that's good timing, because on his way out, Denny Morrison is able to sign my banner. We are being kicked out of the stadium and once outside, we merge with the rest of the crowd. We are having dinner in an Italian restaurant in Heerenveen and are almost kicked out of the restaurant, because we are laughing too loud. Well, at least we're having fun!

It's 12 o'clock at night when I'm home again. I still can't believe it's over and I decide to upload my pictures to the computer right away. I'm pretty pleased with the results and that night I fall asleep with a huge grin on my face. It was worth every single bruise, punch and kick. It was worth the time, money and the effort and I wouldn't have wanted to miss it for anything in the world.

But the last couple of days, I'm having a little bit of trouble trying to act normal and am coping with some serious withdrawal symptoms. Fortunately for me, I will soon go to the World Cup in Baselga di Piné. Most of my favourite speed skaters won't be skating there, but I'm sure, we won't have to fight for a good spot! So... Until next time.

Naomi Schläger