Erik Bouwman has to leave as the national coach of the German skaters. The dismissal of the 47-year-old Dutchman is one of the first decisions made by Matthias Grosse, the partner of Claudia Pechstein and who has been the acting chairman of the German speed skating association DESG for two weeks.
“A national coach who sees an application for the highest office at the DESG as a joke and finds the most successful German skater Claudia Pechstein to throw up, does not belong here,” Grosse said at a press conference in Berlin on Thursday.
Grosse’s decision comes as no surprise, as he and Pechstein had been at odds with Bouwman for some time.
Because of that conflict, the five-time Olympic champion was not welcome at the training sessions of the national team of Germany at the beginning of last season. Pechstein returned to the selection in December after Bouwman apologized in a conversation with the 48-year-old skater.
In February, however, Bouwman lashed out hard at Pechstein. “Everyone around the national team has to vomit from her excessive kindness towards the outside world. But we know there is a malicious double agenda behind that mask,” the coach told The Telegraph.
Bouwman also tried to stop Grosse from being appointed as temporary DESG chairman, but he failed. The employment of the former coach of Jong Oranje will officially be terminated no later than July 31.
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