February 27, 2010 | number 17 The Dutch newspaper in Olympic Vancouver

More than just skating

It took us 46 years, but finally the Dutch don’t have to call the Netherlands a ‘ska- twice: once in BC Place where she received her medal and, of course, in the Hol-
ting nation’ anymore. Nicolien Sauerbreij took the honours, as she won the Dutch land Heineken House. This medal was a landmark, being the Dutch hundredth gold
fourth gold medal in the snowboard parallel giant slalom. Her win was celebrated medal in the history of the summer and winter Olympic games. Photo: ANP

Canada and US
ready to rumble
The men of Team Canada don’t have to
wait four years for a rematch against Team
USA. Tomorrow, the neighbours collide
again in the gold medal match of the hoc-
key tournament. In the semifinal, Canada
made it a close call against Slovakia. After
a 3-0 lead, Slovakia got two goals back,
but couldn’t tie the game. In the other se-
mifinal, USA beat Finland 6-1, USA sco-
ring all their six goals in the first period.
Photo: ANP
 2 The Daily Dutch International
Crashes or relay,
Hamelin doesn’t care
Within a time of 45 minutes, Canadian
short tracker Charles Hamelin gave his
country two occasions to cheer. First, the ol-
dest member of the Hamelin brothers won
the 500 meter event in a race that was filled
with a big crash. Half an hour later, Hamelin
did it again. Together with his brother Fran-
cois, Oliver Jean and Francois-Louis Trem-
blay he won the 5000 meter relay. Canada
beat former Olympic champion South Ko-
rea and the United States.
Riesch new queen of
alpine skiing
BC Place belongs to
Nicolien Sauerbreij
A full stadium awaits her arrival. Still, Nicolien
Sauerbreij has to wait a little while before she can
enter the stage. When the celebrations at Whis-
tler Mountain are over, she can finally pick up
her gold medal.
By Mathijs Vuister
There she goes, flanked by an Austrian and a Rus-
sian. An orange hat partly covers her blond hair,
in a Dutch tracksuit, and a smile from ear to ear.
When she enters, the Canadians don’t bother to
stand up. Nevertheless, orange tufts rise up. For
that gives her a special feeling? She heard the an-
them many times, but never in an arena this big.
There she poses, for everybody. With her oppo-
nents, biting the medal, with one finger in the air.
Today, nothing matters. A volunteer from BC place
urges her to leave the stage, but she doesn’t want to
go. “It’s my moment, let me be,” she thinks. “To-
day, nobody takes this away from me.”
There she shines. She poses one final to the crowd,
and then she leaves. Up to the Holland Heineken
House for another celebration. Today, she doesn’t
care. She has her medal, and that’s a reason to shine.

Germany has taken a huge part of the alpine
skiing medals. Maria Riesch added gold to
her record. After winning the super-com-
bined title, Riesch also took the gold in the
slalom event, ahead of Marlies Schild of Au-
stria and Sarka Zahrobska of the Czech Re-
public. Together with Viktoria Rebensburg’s
victory in the giant slalom, the total stands
on three gold.
Bjoerndalen gets
gold number six
After winning one in Nagano in ‘98, four in
Salt Lake City in ‘02, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen
won another gold medal. In the 4 x 7.5 ki-
lometer team pursuit, he led the Norwegian
team to their fifth medal in biathlon events
at the Olympic winter games in Vancouver.
Three of those medals were made out of solid
just a moment, this isn’t Canada, but a little piece
of Holland.
There she stands, behind the highest spot of the
podium. Takes a while, an Olympic medal celebra-
tion. She has to wait forever, because bronze and
silver will be awarded first. She applauds nicely for
her opponents. But she can’t wait, she wants to be
on her spot as well.
There she jumps, full of joy. Finally, she receives
the thing she has worked for all those years. Toge-
ther with her father Maarten and her support team
she traveled all around the world. If she could find
some snow, she would practice her turns. Every sin-
gle day, but hardly ever in Holland. And right now,
IOC member Maria Casada stands in front of her,
with the perfect reward.
There she sighs, heavily. The first few bars of the
national anthem must do something to her. Will
she think about her first two Olympics? About that
waxer from Austria, about the big lead she had
against Amelie Kober in 2006? Or is it the victory Photo: ANP

‘Curling is just a social game’

gold.

Programme
Today
8.30 pm - De Coronas
10.30 pm - Ben Liebrand
11.30 pm - DJ until closing time (2.00 am)
Tomorrow
9.00 am - Holland Heineken House opens
8.00 pm - Holland Heineken House closes
Colophon The Daily Dutch
Tobias Bos, Pim Brassien, Twan Clarijs, Richard
Geeve, Marlot Hak, Paul de Lange (coordinator),
Rens Lieman, Gert-Jan Peddemors (coordinator),
Marjolein Reezigt (lay-out), Ingrid van Rooijen,
Femke van der Veen, Mathijs Vuister (editor).
The international edition of The Daily Dutch is made by
students from the School of Journalism in Utrecht,
The Netherlands
With the women of Canada winning silver, and
the men being in the curling final as well, one
question arises: why isn’t there a Dutch curling
team present? The Daily Dutch went to the Hol-
land Heineken House for some valuable infor-
mation.
By Mathijs Vuister
During the last European championship for B-
countries, the Netherlands ended up in first (men)
and second (women). So during the next EC, both
teams will curl their stones against Norway, Great-
Britain and Switzerland. But until now, no Dutch
curling team has made it to the Olympic games.
“I really don’t understand why,” Evert from the Ne-
therlands says. He and his girlfriend Jeanine think
curling could be very interesting for their country.
“It’s all the fault of speed skating, soccer and natio-
nal television. Even when Nicolien Sauerbreij won
the gold, we still had to watch the team speed ska-
ting team pursuit, instead of Sauerbreij celebrating.
That’s really strange.”
But how can we get more kids into curling? Ac-
cording to Evert, it all starts at school. “When they
go to elementary school, the kids already make a
decision about what kind of sport they want to play.
Curling is hardly ever mentioned, because soccer,
tennis and hockey are the most common sports. If
the Dutch Curling Federation puts some effort in
it, curling could become a much bigger sport in the
Netherlands.”
Canadian friends Matt, Luke and Steve give the
Dutch some more tips. “You could compare cur-
ling to what is bowling for your country: a social
game. Not only is it played on a professional level,
families and friends play it as well. But, most of the
time, beer is involved.”
The three do have one good advice. “Make sure you
have enough places to play it. Here in Richmond
there are several places where you can do some cur-
ling. Just find some spots in the Netherlands where
you can do it, and within no time you’ll be at the
Olympics. We can guarantee you that.”