Weststellingwerf is a municipality in the province of Friesland in the northern Netherlands. It is one of the municipalities of Friesland where the spoken language is not West Frisian; instead, Stellingwerfs, a dialect of Dutch Low Saxon, is spoken here.
Lidiya Pavlovna Skoblikova is a retired Russian speed skater and coach. She represented the USSR Olympic team during the Olympic Winter Games in 1960, 1964 and 1968, and won a total of six gold medals, a record she shares with Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst. She also won 25 gold medals at the world championships and 15 gold medals at the USSR National Championships in several distances. She was also the first athlete to earn six gold medals in the Winter Olympics and the first to earn four gold medals at a single Olympic Winter Games. She was the most successful athlete at the 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics, sharing the honour for 1960 Games with her compatriot Yevgeny Grishin.
Anna ("Anni") Christine Friesinger-Postma is a German former speed skater. Her father Georg Friesinger, of Germany, and mother Janina ("Jana") Korowicka, of Poland, were both skaters; Jana was on the Polish team at the 1976 Winter Olympics. Her brother Jan is also a speed skater. Her sister Agnes is a former speed skater. In July 2010, Friesinger retired from her active sports career when she had to be treated for severe cartilage damage in her right knee joint.
Irene Karlijn (Ireen) Wüst is a Dutch former long track speed skater of German ancestry. Wüst became the most successful speed skating Olympian ever by achieving at least one gold medal in each of five consecutive Winter Olympic appearances. Wüst is the second athlete to win a gold medal at five consecutive Olympics, Summer or Winter, and the first to do so in individual events.
Christine Nesbitt is a Canadian retired long track speed skater who currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. She won the gold medal in the 1000 metres event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. She had previously won a silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. She is also the 2011 sprint champion, 2012 1500 metres world champion, three-time world champion for 1000 metres, and three-time world champion for team pursuit. On 4 June 2015 she announced her retirement.
Leah Jean Poulos-Mueller is an American retired speed skater. She competed at the 1972, 1976 and 1980 Winter Olympics, and won two silver medals in 1980 and one in 1976. She garnered more than 65 Olympic, world, and international speed skating medals and titles during a career that spanned 12 competitive years and three Olympic teams. After retiring from competitions she had a long career in law as a civil litigator.
Margot Madelaine Boer is a Dutch former speed skater. She specialised in the 500, 1000 and 1500 m.
Katherine Reutter-Adamek is an American short track speed skater. She is a two-time medalist in the Winter Olympics, 2011 overall world silver medalist and the 2010–2011 overall ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup champion.
Karolína Erbanová is a Czech ice hockey player and retired long-track speed skater. She won a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the 500 m event in speed skating.
Annita van Doorn is a Dutch Short track speed skater. She made her international debut in 2003 at the World Championships for teams. Van Doorn was the first Dutch short track speed skater with a victory on a World Cup distance. She took a lap on her competitors on the 3000 meters and won the super final, surprisingly, at her second World Cup competition. In 2008, she became European Champion in the 500 meters in Ventspils, Latvia. In the overall classification she ended as 5th. She won bronze medals at the European Championships with the relay team in 2007, 2009 en 2010. In 2009 Van Doorn won her first Dutch title.
Christine Jacoba Aaftink is a Dutch former speed skater. She made her international debut in 1988 and was the best Dutch sprinter in the first half of the 1990s. She specialized in the 500 m and 1000 m distances, in which she competed at the 1988, 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics. Her best achievements were fifth and fourth place in 1992 in 500 m and 1000 m, respectively. In 1994 she was the Olympic flag bearer for the Netherlands. She won two bronze medals at the World Sprint Speed Skating Championships for Women in 1990 and 1991.
Karin Kessow is a retired German speed skater who won the World All-Round Speed Skating Championships in 1975. Next year she competed at the 1976 Winter Olympics in the 1500 m and 3000 m and finished in fifth and fourth place, respectively.
Andrea Nuyt is a retired speed skater from the Netherlands who won a silver medal at the World Sprint Speed Skating Championships for Women in 2002. She also competed at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics in the 500 m and 1000 m. Her best achievement was fourth place in the 500 m in 2002.
Dirkina Wilhelmina "Ingrid" Paul is a retired speed skater and speed skating coach from the Netherlands. She competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics in the 3000 m and 5000 m and finished in 14th place in the latter event.
Sippie Tigchelaar is a retired speed skater from the Netherlands who was active between 1969 and 1975. She competed at the 1972 Winter Olympics in the 3000 m and finished in fourth place. She had gradually improved her position in the national all-round championships from eighth place in 1972 to third in 1973, second in 1974, and first in 1975.
Lia van Schie is a retired speed skater from the Netherlands who was active between 1989 and 1995. She competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics in the 1500, 3000 and 5000 m and finished in 16th, 9th and 8th place, respectively. She won a bronze medal at the World All-Round Speed Skating Championships for Women in 1991.
Haitske Pijlman is a retired speed skater from the Netherlands who was active between 1975 and 1980. She competed at the 1980 Winter Olympics in the 500 and 1000 m and finished in 15th and 14th place, respectively. She won a bronze medal at the World Sprint Speed Skating Championships for Women in 1977.
Lara Victoria van Ruijven was a Dutch short track speed skater. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, she was part of the Dutch 3000 metres relay team that won a bronze medal. She won gold at the World Championships one year later. By doing so, she became the first Dutch woman to win a world short track title at an individual event.
Yara van Kerkhof is a Dutch short track speed skater. She won the silver medal in the 500 m event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The Netherlands competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, between 9 and 25 February 2018. Speed skater Jan Smeekens was appointed as flag bearer for the opening ceremony, which was attended by King Willem Alexander, Queen Máxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also observed the sporting events that featured Dutch competitors.
