Suzanne Schulting

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Reason for choosing this sport	"My parents live in the middle of nowhere with little canals around their house. So, they were like, 'Okay, if it's frozen in the winter you can do some speed skating', and that's how I learned to speed skate. That's where it all started."
Club / Team	Shorttrack Club Thialf: Heerenveen, NED
Name of coach	Niels Kerstholt [national], NED
When and where did you begin this sport?	She took up short track at age eight in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
Training Regime	She trains on the ice six days a week.

Sporting philosophy / motto	"What really drives me is the gold. The feeling of winning the gold medal is the best thing ever. You train so hard the whole summer just for the feeling of crossing the finish line first. I scream my guts out when I win. That feeling really keeps me motivated and it's like a drug. You want more and more and more." (olafhussein.com, 20 Nov 2020)
Injuries	She missed the 2022 Dutch Open in Heerenveen, Netherlands, due to a sinus infection. (schaatsen.nl, 28 Oct 2022; olympics.com, 25 Oct 2022) She withdrew from the 2022 Dutch Championships in Leeuwarden due to a minor groin issue. (schaatsen.nl, 31 Dec 2021) An illness prevented her from competing at the 2021 Courmayeur Cup in Italy. (schaatsen.nl, 15 Sep 2021)
Other information	OLYMPIC SUCCESS She became the first short track skater representing the Netherlands to win gold at the Olympic Winter Games by claiming victory in the 1000m at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang. Four years later at Beijing 2022 she became the first female short track skater from any country to win four medals at a single Olympic Winter Games by claiming two gold, a silver, and a bronze. "We always have been so good on long track [in the Netherlands] and everyone was watching long track saying, 'Ah, they're going to take the gold, they're going to take the gold'. Now [short track] is really upcoming, so I think that's great." (ktvh.com, 16 Feb 2022; olympics.com, 01 Nov 2021) CLEAN SWEEP She won all five titles on offer at the 2021 World Short Track Championships in Dordrecht, Netherlands, claiming gold in the 500m, 1000m, 1500m, the overall competition, and the 3000m relay. A number of the world's top short track skaters were unable to compete at the tournament because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but she was only the second female athlete in history, following Canada's Sylvie Daigle in 1983, to complete a clean sweep at the tournament. "I could not have done any better than I did. It is fantastic. I had expected more opposition but I had been skating new records in the previous weeks, and I set two personal bests in Dordrecht." (dutchnews.nl, 08 Mar 2021) UNEXPECTED MEDAL She was a member of the Dutch women's 3000m relay team that won a bronze medal at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang despite not qualifying for the A final. Two out of four teams in the A final were disqualified, meaning the Dutch team - who won the B final in a world-record time - were awarded the bronze medal. (deadspin.com, 21 Feb 2018; bbc.com, 20 Feb 2018)
Most influential person in career	Her parents, and coach Jeroen Otter. (schaatsen.nl, 26 Sep 2022; Athlete, 13 Jan 2017)
Hero / Idol	Dutch short track skater Sjinkie Knegt. (Athlete, 13 Jan 2017)
Awards and honours	She was named Short Track Skater of the Year for 2016 and 2022 by the Royal Dutch Skating Association [KNSB]. (schaatsen.nl, 19 Oct 2022) She was named Dutch Sportswoman of the Year in 2018. (isu.org, 24 Jan 2019) She was named Best Female Short Track Skater in the Netherlands at the 2018 Ard Schenk Awards Gala. (schaatsen.nl, 20 Mar 2018) In March 2018 she was made a Knight of the Orde van Oranje-Nassau [Order of Orange Nassau] in recognition of the gold medal she won at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. (schaatsen.nl, 26 Mar 2018; lintjes.nl, 2018)
Nicknames	Suus (schaatsen.nl, 20 Mar 2018)
Other sports	She represented the Netherlands in speed skating at the 2021 World Single Distances Championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands. (SportsDeskOnline, 08 Nov 2021)
Milestones	She became the first Dutch athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in short track by claiming victory in the 1000m at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. At the 2022 Games in Beijing she became the first female short track skater from any country to win four medals at a single Olympic Winter Games when she claimed two gold, a silver, and a bronze. (SportsDeskOnline, 31 Oct 2022; ktvh.com, 16 Feb 2022; OIS, 22 Feb 2018) She became only the second female short track skater to win a clean sweep of gold medals at a single edition of the world championships at the 2021 edition of the tournament in Dordrecht, Netherlands. She claimed victory in the 500m, 1000m, 1500m, the overall competition, and the 3000m relay to follow in the footsteps of Canada's Sylvie Daigle, who achieved the feat in 1983 [although there was no world title for the relay that year]. (SportsDeskOnline, 08 Nov 2021; olympics.com, 07 Mar 2021) She was the first female short track skater representing the Netherlands to win an overall world title when she claimed gold in the overall competition at the 2019 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. (SportsDeskOnline, 20 Mar 2019; schaatsen.nl, 10 Mar 2019)
Hobbies	Watching television, watching sports, going to restaurants, playing the piano. (olafhussein.com, 20 Nov 2020)
Ambitions	To win gold at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina. (CGTN YouTube channel, 19 Feb 2022)