Three-time Olympic champion Irene Schouten (31) surprisingly stops skating | To skate

Feb 19, 2024 at 4:06 PM Update: 5 minutes ago

Irene Schouten will stop skating, she announced on Monday. The 31-year-old from North Holland won three gold medals and one silver medal at the World Championship distances in Calgary last week.

“My top sports career ends. It’s over,” Schouten told the newspaper NOS in an explanation of her decision to stop. Schouten’s retirement comes as a huge surprise.

The three-time Olympic champion at the World Championship distances may have already competed in the last races of her career. “I will see later this week whether I still want to start at the National Championships,” Schouten continues. Her decision to quit comes as a surprise, because Schouten is the most successful skater of the moment. But her decision is well-considered.

“Deep in my heart I just long for other things. I no longer have the dream for another Olympic Games.”

Schouten experienced the highlight of her career at the last Games, Beijing in 2022. She became Olympic champion in the Chinese capital in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters and the mass start. She also won bronze in the team pursuit.

‘The difficult thing is that I am now at the level’

In 2018, Schouten won her first Olympic medal in Pyeongchang, bronze in the mass start. She also became world champion ten times, including three times at the final World Championship distances last week in Calgary.

Schouten was the fastest at the Olympic Oval in the Canadian city in the team pursuit (together with Marijke Groenewoud and Joy Beune), the 3,000 meters and the mass start. She had to settle for bronze in the 5,000 meters. “The difficult thing is that I am now at the level. With three golds and one silver at this World Cup, then you are not bad,” says Schouten.

What is extra special about Schouten’s career is that she was also very successful as a marathon skater. In January she won her ninth Dutch title.

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2024-02-19 15:06:21
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