The goal of this sport is to skate certain distances as fast as possible. The skaters skate in a 400 metre long oval, so all they do is skating rounds. The average speeds of all this distances are calculated and the best skater over all wins the championship. Many Dutch people are really crazy about it. If there is a championship it is broadcasted live on television the whole weekend.
Dutch skaters are very good all-round, but for the sprint there are only some Dutch skaters.
Gianni Romme was the champion at 10000 metres, Jeroen Straathof at 1500 metres and Ids Postma on the 5000 metres. For the women we have Annamarie Thomas. The German women always have been very good at skating and for about 5 years Gunda Niemann has won almost every year. But last year at the championships for distances Annamarie Thomas won the 1000 and 1500 metres and she is a candidate for gold at the Olympics in 1998. Her boyfriend, Bart Veldkamp, is a skater too.