Merel Conijn
Netherlands
| Sport | Speed Skating | |
| FederationID | SSNED21910200101 | |
| NOC | Netherlands | |
| Born | 19 Oct 2001
in  Amsterdam | |
| Gender | Women |
| Residence | Heerenveen, NED | |
| Higher education | Communications, Science - University of Amsterdam: Netherlands | |
| Occupation | Athlete, Student | |
| Languages | Dutch, English |
| Main Achievements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Main Achievements |
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| World Junior Championships | Event | |||||
|
World Junior Championships
|
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| 1500m | 1 | |||||
| 3000m | 1 | |||||
| Mass Start 10 Laps | 1 | |||||
| Team Pursuit 6 Laps | 1 | |||||
Sport Specific Information
Sport Specific Information
| Club / Team | Team Jumbo-Visma: Netherlands |
General Interest
General Interest
| Injuries | Her training was disrupted at the start of the 2022/23 season after she contracted COVID-19. (nhnieuws.nl, 22 Oct 2022) | |
| Ambitions | To compete at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina. (schaatsen.nl, 30 Mar 2022) |
Sport Specific Information
Sport Specific Information
| Name of coach | Jac Orie [club], NED |
General Interest
General Interest
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "I like challenges and skating is really my passion and my life for me. It's what I do with incredible pleasure and I think that's the basis for success. You have to do something where your heart is, because otherwise it won't work." (sportnieuws.nl, 01 Jan 2022) | |
| Other information | ROLLERCOASTER YEAR She described her first year competing at senior level in 2021/22 as a rollercoaster year of ups and downs. She was a travelling reserve for the Dutch team at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing [but did not end up competing]. She had just missed out on qualifying for the Dutch Olympic team by one hundredth of a second in the 3000m and one tenth of a second in the 5000m event. Despite the disappointment, a few weeks later she won the Dutch national allround title for the first time in her career, and then was called up to compete at her first senior international tournament, the 2022 World Allround Championships in Hamar, Norway. "It [2021/22] felt like a rollercoaster that went up and down a number of times. Of course it was disappointing that I just missed the Games, but winning the Dutch national championships and my participation in the world championships made up for a lot. It has been a very instructive first season with the seniors. Did I surprise myself? Certainly. I did not expect in my first year to be so close to participating in the Games and I never expected that the allround world championships in Hamar would be my first international tournament. I am proud of what I have achieved in a short time. The [2026] Olympic Games in Milan are circled in red in my calendar. I want to show the best version of myself there in four years. In the meantime, I want to continue to develop myself physically and mentally." (schaatsen.nl, 30 Mar 2022; Instagram profile, 09 Feb 2022) |
Social Media
Social Media
| instagram.com/merelconijn | twitter.com/merelconijn |