NOS Skating•
“When I took this job, I knew that we have a lot of national coaches, but that you have people who wish you death… That goes a long way,” says Ritsma. “Death wishes. That’s how far it goes.”
Ritsma also received death wishes: ‘That is our society nowadays’
Yesterday, skater Joy Beune made a call on Instagram, after the many hate reactions her friend and skater Kjeld Nuis received. “Don’t wish pain or death on someone, that really crosses a line,” Beune wrote.
Team pursuit composition
“I also saw a post from Joy about Kjeld, that’s the same story,” Ritsma refers to the call on Instagram. “That is our society today and that is social media: keyboard knights. It makes them feel strong and powerful. But I have to put it aside.”
In Ritsma’s case, a lot was caused by the loss of Tim Prins, who cannot participate in the Games because Marcel Bosker has been given a designated place for the team pursuit. Prins is furious about this.
“Of course I understand that,” says Ritsma. “I have also been an athlete myself and I know how painful that can feel and what goes through such a boy. Everyone knows the rules, but as an athlete you never assume that you can be the victim.”
Ritsma on which data is taken into account in the designation decision: ‘Should be able to score well with it’
However, Ritsma emphasizes that in his opinion people jump to conclusions too quickly. “If you only know that Bosker comes in and Prins leaves, then that may seem like a bad choice. But if you are informed, you know that this is a consequence of a system we have and that we want to do everything as fairly as possible.”
“You can never do it right for everyone. We have too many skaters and too few places.”
Data
The selection committee of the KNSB and Ritsma base their choices on data. What are those dates? “The data is what was driven,” Ritsma explains cryptically. He means that at the KNSB they have compared the past performances of the third best Dutch skaters in the 1,500 meters and the team pursuit.
This concerns performances in World Cups of the last two years and at the World Cup distances of last year.
Ritsma and the KNSB conclude from the data that the third best Dutchman at 1,500 meters has in the past performed less well (often outside the top ten, Ritsma argues) than the team pursuit. For that reason, the team pursuit has a better chance of winning an Olympic medal, they reason.
This assessment does not look at who drove at those times, but only at the classification. And that’s where the problem lies, Ritsma also admits.
“That ‘third person 1,500 meters’ is an average of all kinds of skaters. And now there is a person (Tim Prins, ed.) in that third place, who may end up higher (than the average data indicates, ed.).” Nevertheless, data was used and it was decided not to include Prins.
Ritsma sticks to his choice
Ultimately, Ritsma is convinced that a logical decision has been made to “complete the train” for the team pursuit with Bosker. With Bosker, Chris Huizinga and Stijn van de Bunt, he has put together a trio that has never competed together before.
“It’s not a completely different team,” says Ritsma. “There is one who shows a considerably high individual level, Stijn van de Bunt. You look at how he fits into the train and if I did not have confidence in that, I would not have drafted him.”
“That is not a choice based on feeling. That is about visibility. And partly about data.”
Ritsma: “We know what Stijn can do individually and we can probably use him well for a place in the team pursuit.”
“There is a base that is possible. And we still have a little time to do that: we already have six days in which we will work together and in between we can probably do another ride. Then we have quite some time to put finishing touches.”
“I get messages from people who think they can still reverse this choice, but that is not the case. This is it and this is what we are going to do with it. And we are going to get the most out of it.”
