Merijn Scheperkamp

Club / Team

Team Jumbo-Visma [NED] / SIV Zeist [NED]:

Other sports

He has represented the Netherlands in roller speed skating, and won a silver medal at the 2019 European Championships in Pamplona, Spain. (SportsDeskOnline, 10 Nov 2021; schaatsen.nl, 02 Feb 2019)

Reason for choosing this sport

"My parents were good skaters. My sister is four years older and she started skating. I wanted that too."

Ambitions

To win gold at the Olympic Winter Games. (gooieneembode.nl, 10 May 2020)

Name of coach	Jac Orie [Jumbo-Visma], NED; Rintje Ritsma [national], NED
When and where did you begin this sport?	He took up ice skating and inline skating at the Zeist Skating and Inline Skating Association in the Netherlands.

www.facebook.com/merijn.scheperkamp

Injuries	He sustained a groin injury during training in October 2022. (schaatsen.nl, 28 Oct 2022)
Famous relatives	His father Marcel Scheperkamp competed in speed skating, including at the 1979 World Junior Championships in Grenoble, France. (SportsDeskOnline, 14 Nov 2022; knsb.nl, 16 Sep 2019)
Nicknames	Frenkie (nos.nl, 28 Dec 2021)
Other information	OVERCOMING NERVES He experiences competition-related nerves to the extent that he will sometimes vomit before competing. However, he believes the nerves help his performance level. "This tension makes me better and is part of me. When a lion chases an antelope, he also runs at his fastest. I have that a bit with skating, that I skate at my fastest when I really have the urge to perform. This is when the stress is highest, but so is the performance. People said to me, 'Hey, I'm having a hard time with this too' [after images of him vomiting were shown on TV]. Not skaters, but people who were nervous about a test or something." (volkskrant.nl, 01 Mar 2023)