Pressure on Dutch to continue winning ways at Olympic oval

By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer

Qualifying for the Netherlands’ Olympic speedskating team is brutal. The talent level is so high because many skaters began honing their skills as children skating on the country’s frozen lakes and canals. At last month’s trials, three Olympic champions failed to qualify and won’t be in Beijing. Sven Kramer is a nine-time Olympic medalist who didn’t win any events at the Dutch trials. But the national federation picked him for Beijing because he’s valuable in the team pursuit and mass start events. As a result of his selection, two other skaters were left off the team. The Dutch have won 121 Olympic speedskating medals, including 42 golds.