Jumbo-Visma coach Jac Orie and Sven Kramer are hopeful that the canceled World Cups can still continue this fall. There is a good chance that it will be announced this week that a bubble will be created in Heerenveen, so that the first world cups during the corona crisis can be finished in Thialf.
“There is a bit of hope, but I think there is more than a 90 percent chance that a bubble will come,” said Orie at the Jumbo-Visma team presentation in Thialf on Monday. “The World Cups are an important part of our sport. We want to organize it here and will do everything we can to comply with the rules.”
The international skating association ISU decided at the end of August because of the corona pandemic to put a stop to world cups in the Polish Tomaszów Mazowiecki (13-15 November), the Norwegian Stavanger (20-22 November), the American Salt Lake City (4-6 December) and Canada’s Calgary (December 11-13).
The start of the skating season was therefore in jeopardy, after which the Dutch skating association KNSB offered to organize the competitions in Heerenveen. “The sounds I hear are positive. I don’t care what the bubble will look like, as long as it comes,” said Sven Kramer about the World Cups, which may all be held in November.
“I am confident that a situation will be created that is responsible and that everyone is comfortable with. As long as those two aspects are at the top, I think we can drive fantastic races here, with or without an audience. If you look now to tennis, cycling, Formula 1 and football, it would be crazy if in skating suddenly no competitions could be held. “
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Jumbo-Visma presented the skating team for next season in Thialf on Monday. (Photo: ANP)
‘Don’t go shopping with your wife and children’
The details of the potential bubble are not yet fully understood, but the bottom line is that skaters will have to live in a hotel for about four weeks. Certain cycling routes will be designed to get to the ice rink and training hall, but the freedom of movement will be considerably restricted.
“It will be quite strict. That means, for example, that you cannot go shopping with your wife and children”, says Orie. “It is what it is. Sometimes you have to look beyond your little circle and think about the sport. It is very important for the skating, the athletes and the sponsors that the World Cups go through.”
The 34-year-old Kramer is also willing to spend about four weeks in a hotel. “Even if it’s two months, I don’t care. This is our job and this is the consequence of it. If we have to do this to sell the sport well, it is a small sacrifice to the people who really suffer from it. . “
“It is especially very important that people are tolerant of each other. If we all take each other a little into account and everyone does not put their own interests at the top, we all have an interest in sports and beyond.”
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