NOS Skating•
Patrick Roest has not qualified for the Olympic qualifying tournament, which will be held in Heerenveen from December 26. The 30-year-old Roest is now dependent on the KNSB for participation in the Games, which can still appoint him a place for the OKT.
After a dramatic preseason, Roest, who won Olympic silver in Beijing in 2022, had to qualify for the OKT in the Holland Cup competition in Enschede in the 5,000 meters by finishing among the first five. The two-time world champion in the 5,000 meters only finished eighth.
After the previous season went badly due to fatigue complaints and an infected wisdom tooth, things are going from bad to worse at Roest this year of skating. After poor results in the preseason, he had to qualify for the National Championship distances at the Holland Cup in Deventer. That worked, but with an eleventh place, a ticket for the World Cup remained far out of reach.
In Enschede, Roest was more than ten seconds slower than winner Jesse Speijers with 6.34.87, meaning he did not reach the OKT on his own.
