Speed skaters shift up a gear under new Dutch coach

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By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-24 10:52

HARBIN, Heilongjiang province: China's speed skaters punched above their weight at the Winter Universiade in Harbin last week to set themselves up for some silverware at next year's Vancouver Olympics, according to their Dutch coach.

"I'd just expected a medal," Sijtje van der Lende told China Daily of her initial target for the ongoing world varsity games. "The results are definitely beyond my expectations. It's the best result for the team. All my skaters have performed excellently."

China's national speed skating coach has made her presence felt since taking over the position last May. In Harbin, the sight of a blonde-haired European woman shouting instructions and encouragement to China's Lycra-wrapped skaters caused more than a few heads to turn.

And her approach seems to have worked. Under her guidance, the team has blossomed at major competitions, including in Harbin.

China's speed skaters picked up two gold, six silver and three bronze medals in the country's frosty northeast last week, despite the absence of gold-medal favorite Wang Beixing, who is training in Canada.

One of the standout performances came from Fu Chunyan, who grabbed gold in the women's 3,000m. China is traditionally stronger in the shorter sprints, especially the 500m.

"I think the Chinese skaters are doing well," said Van der Lende, whose contract runs until the end of the 2010 Winter Olympics. "They are physically very strong. They want to train and they like to train.

"The sprinters continue to surprise me and next year I believe we will see them jump to another level."

A product of the Netherlands' tried and tested training system, Van der Lende is a former skater with a clutch of national and international titles to her name. She started coaching at club and country level after retiring from competition in 1980.

When the Chinese team sent her an invitation, she jumped at the chance of working in a foreign country.

"When the Chinese asked me, I thought 'Oh, China is a country far away with a different culture. OK, I will go'," she said.

The technical changes she has brought to the Chinese team are already being felt and appreciated.

"The Chinese skaters used to go very fast in a straight line then and rest a little bit in the corner," she said. "But we do things differently in the Netherlands. You have to work very hard in the corners because the speed is nowadays very high."

The skaters feel her encouragement is just as important as her new techniques.

"She always tells me that I'm very talented and that is a definite confidence booster - it's exactly what I need," said Dong Feifei, a double silver medalist at the 24th Universiade.

Now all they need to do is transform this learning and hard work into Olympic silverware, something the Dutchwoman feels is just a matter of time.

"They have to get a medal at the next Olympics," she said. "They have still a lot to learn(but) now they know all about the techniques and, every time, they have to get it right."

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, China finished 14th in the overall medal table with two gold, four silver and five bronze medals. Seven of its 11 medals came from speed skating.