This came up in Google for De Elfstedentocht. I like it.
The Dutch, I found out this week, are really into ice-skating. I mean really into it. In particular, they harbour a special affection for speed-skating and consider this winter sport to be ‘their own’. Speed-skating, whilst clearly a highly demanding exercise which must require years of practice and dedication to master, is not exactly my idea of Saturday afternoon television. However, on this dull grey February afternoon, as I flick through the channels hopelessly searching for a glimpse of some football, I am confronted with an unusual dilemma. Football is, mercifully, on. But it’s the Belgian Jupiler League clash between Bergen and Racing Genk and, to be perfectly honest, I’m not 100% sure I’m ‘feeling’ it. However, the only other sport on Dutch tv today is the speed-skating world championship from Moscow and, apparently, ‘millions are watching from back home’. I’ll catch the Genk highlights later, I think to myself.
This World Championship must be a big deal to the Dutch as I notice it’s taking up hours of prime time Saturday afternoon television with only the occasion news bulletin from Amsterdam. There’s a lot of talk about a certain Sven Kramer. I quickly discover he’s the ‘Nation’s darling’. Must be a likeable guy. His speciality, the 5 kilometre, is about to start. I decide to watch.
I’m slightly overwhelmed by it all. Clearly, from the images transmitted, some of the Dutch weren’t satisfied with just watching the skating on the tele; a fair few of the sold out arena are sporting the Dutch orange and waving their flags almost violently in the direction of this Kramer bloke. He’s just won the race at a canter and, although I’ve not fully grasped all the tournament rules, it would appear this development gives the Dutch more than a good shout of taking the trophy back home. A long discussion about this between experts follows and my interest is exhausted, temporarily.
It’s been pretty cold here recently. ‘Brace yourselves for a Siberian weekend’ the De Telegraaf eloquently warned. They certainly weren’t wrong. For a whole week I bemoaned my lack of gloves ( I was sure I packed them..) and avoided going outside at all costs. Lectures, as we students have learnt the hard way, can’t really be avoided however. So everyday I’d be forced to brace the Dutch chill and snow-caked pavements much to my disdain. What I saw, though, on those bitterly cold walks was another of many bewildering moments for the Erasmus Student from Cambridge’s eye: everyone had swapped their shoes for skates and the pavement for the frozen canals. My bewilderment wouldn’t end there.
Rumours quickly began to spread about the mythical ‘Journey Through The Eleven Villages’ (De Elfstedentocht). Seemingly, there hadn’t been one for over fifteen years and everyone was pretty psyched about the idea of it possibly happening again.
I, too, wasn’t exactly sure, on first sight, what all the fuss was about. I mean, what was actually going on here?
Apparently, whenever the ice is deep and solid enough around the province of Friesland a great marathon skate takes place. The ‘track’ traces 200 kilometres, eleven Frisian towns and boasts thousands of participants. Hence the bizarre name. Obviously, the victor is highly celebrated and goes down in the skating history books. But what amazed me most about this particular race was the hype which gripped the country before hand. Everyone started skating to work or school as if they quite openly had an eye on the race and fancied their chances.
Tragically, the Elfstedentocht was cancelled. The thaw came too soon for the thousands of skating fanatics to adorn the Frisian ice for the first time in over a decade. It felt like a national tragedy. The skates were put away until next year and pavements, once more, served their purpose.
This is probably my longest blog entry to date. It may even read as the least purposeful as well. This time I am not, for example, bemoaning the Scottish scrum or criticising the premium wage packets of the Premier League’s ‘finest’. This time I have humbly intended to celebrate a sport which , though fleetingly, has been all over the news for the right reasons. I may be delighted to leave the scarf in the cupboard for now but the Dutch’s obsession with ice-skating has certainly intrigued me.
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