Inline skating in Colombia. Ascent of Mont Ventoux. Marry, move and renovate.

The summer after the Olympics is a summer for speed skaters, as described by Thomas Krol, the Olympic champion over 1,000 meters, so that he can sometimes paint outside the lines.

Starting today, Thialf will be fighting for starting places for the first World Cup weekends. Those who do not make the top five are left out for the time being. But the pressure and (corona) stress are much less high than they were a year ago.

For example, Krol, a lover of the high mountains, took some liberties here and there last summer that he wouldn’t have allowed himself in an Olympic season.

Fun sometimes over schedule

When he was in Andorra and jump training was actually on his program, he got on his bike anyway. “I thought: Is that on schedule? No. Do I like it? Yes. Bring in a little more fun. That has brought me a lot this summer. “

“The coaches know it makes me happy. I’m really not lazy and physically I’m super good. The most important thing is that you feel comfortable in your own skin.”

Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong, who got married in the spring, was also looking for relaxation. “In an Olympic season, there is always only one focus: the Olympics. Now I had time to work towards my wedding and I was renovating. This distraction has done me a lot of good.”

“Of course you want to concentrate fully. But I don’t know if it’s always been good for me. For example, I’ve done two bike races now. I might want to do that more often in the coming year.” I’ve found that I really like it. I like it, although I certainly won’t switch to cycling.”

“Was that okay?”

Skaters have been talking a lot more about their feelings than lap times in the past few weeks. Anyone who has switched to another team hopes to feel at home there. And everyone is looking for that feeling of confidence for the first few games.

But those who have trained differently do not always know what they can do. Not even a triple Olympic champion. At the end of the summer, Irene Schouten traveled to Colombia for a high-altitude training holiday full of kilometers of cycling and inline skating. She came back with a fresh head, but also with question marks.

“It was a nice new stimulus but I came back a little more tired than my teammates. I thought, shit, was that good?”

“But if I had gone back to the same place as usual (Livigno, in the Italian Dolomites, editor’s note), I would have thought: I want to get out of here, it’s no longer fun for me. And that’s the most important thing for me: having fun.”

The retired Sven Kramer addressed these words to the skaters and guests at the Jumbo Visma presentation: Don’t forget to enjoy life as a top athlete. The multiple champion found himself doing too little at times.

Kramer is a top athlete and drove his farewell laps alongside Ireen Wüst in March. We have to go back to 2002 for the last opening of an ice skating season without Wüst and without Kramer on the ice.

As of this week, the names of the two ice skating icons of the 21st century are above the curves named after them.

Femke Kok first had to get used to a season without Wüst. “She was a bit like the mother of our team. Ireen has so much experience and has been through so much. We still talk on the phone regularly or go out for lunch together. you can always come to her.”

Kok’s main goal this winter is the main goal of so many: the World Championship distances in Heerenveen. Especially now, when there are no world championship sprints and all-around races, but “only” a European championship.

“Shouldn’t have been on the calendar”

A tournament made even less valuable by the absence of the Russians, who are banned from international competitions because of the war in Ukraine.

Krol: “Of course I’ll try to qualify for the European Championship sprint, but that shouldn’t have been on the calendar for me. Just make a World Cup sprint out of it every year.”

“A European sprint is basically an international match between the Netherlands and Russia, now it’s going to be a very slimmed-down tournament. I would have much rather fought Laurent Dubreuil (from Canada, editor’s note) or the Japanese. I think it’s a bit of a blank calendar now.”

But the 30-year-old Krol has enough to drive for this season. Even with Olympic gold already in the closet. “The big goal has been ticked off, but that doesn’t mean it’s a long way off. I’m in the prime of my life and I want to win a lot of prizes. For example, I’ve never won the 1,000 meters World Championship. That seems like a lot to me. Nice goal.”