The Netherlands competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, between 9 and 25 February 2018. Speed skater Jan Smeekens was appointed as flag bearer for the opening ceremony, which was attended by King Willem Alexander, Queen Máxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also observed the sporting events that featured Dutch competitors.

The goal for the Dutch team was to win fifteen medals, as declared by Chef de mission Jeroen Bijl; they exceeded this goal by five medals, with a total of twenty, which placed the Netherlands fifth in the medal table. Most notably, the Dutch team dominated the individual speed skating events, winning seven of the ten gold medals awarded; they also won four medals in short track speed skating including their first ever gold medal in this discipline, won by Suzanne Schulting.

Highlights Day 1 Netherlands completed a podium sweep in the women's 3000 metres speed skating event – Carlijn Achtereekte won gold, Ireen Wüst won silver and Antoinette de Jong won bronze. A few minutes after the podium sweep, Sjinkie Knegt won the silver medal in the men's 1500 metres short track speed skating event.

Day 2 Sven Kramer won the gold medal in the men's 5000 metres speed skating event. Kramer became the first man ever to win a gold medal in the same speed skating event at three consecutive Winter Olympics.

Day 3 Netherlands took three of the top four places in the women's 1500 metres speed skating event; Ireen Wüst won the gold medal and Marrit Leenstra took bronze, only 0.01 seconds ahead of Lotte van Beek. On winning the gold medal, Wüst had succeeded in achieving gold medal wins at four consecutive Winter Olympics, exactly twelve years after winning her first gold medal in the 3000 metres in 2006. With a total of ten medals, including five golds, Wüst became the best ever Olympic speed skater (male or female) and the seventh-best Winter Olympic athlete overall.

Day 4 Olympic debutant Kjeld Nuis won the gold medal in the men's 1500 metres speed skating event. Patrick Roest, also an Olympic debutant, won the silver medal. Koen Verweij, one of the favorites for the win, finished in eleventh place. In short track speed skating, Yara van Kerkhof unexpectedly won the silver medal in the women's 500 metres event, benefiting from the disqualification of the Korean Choi Min-jeong after initially finishing in third.

Medalists

| width="78%" align="left" valign="top" | Medal Name Sport Event Date Speed skating Women's 3000 metres Speed skating Men's 5000 metres Speed skating Women's 1500 metres Speed skating Men's 1500 metres Speed skating Women's 1000 metres Speed skating Women's 5000 metres Speed skating Men's 1000 metres Short track speed skating Women's 1000 metres Speed skating Women's 3000 metres Speed skating Men's 1500 metres Speed skating Men's 10,000 metres Antoinette de JongMarrit LeenstraIreen WüstLotte van Beek Speed skating Women's team pursuit Short track speed skating Men's 1500 metres Short track speed skating Women's 500 metres Speed skating Women's 3000 metres Speed skating Women's 1500 metres Jan BlokhuijsenSven KramerKoen VerweijPatrick Roest Speed skating Men's team pursuit Speed skating Women's mass start Speed skating Men's mass start Yara van KerkhofJorien ter MorsLara van RuijvenSuzanne Schulting Short track speed skating Women's 3000 metre relay | width="22%" align="left" valign="top" |

Medals by sportSport TotalSpeed skating74516Short track speed skating1214Total86620 Medals by dateDayDate TotalDay 110 February1214Day 211 February1001Day 312 February1012Day 413 February1203Day 514 February1001Day 615 February0101Day 716 February1001Day 817 February0000Day 918 February0000Day 1019 February0000Day 1120 February0011Day 1221 February0112Day 1322 February1001Day 1423 February1001Day 1524 February0022Day 1625 February0000Total86620

Competitors The following is the list of number of competitors participating at the Games per sport/discipline.

SportMenWomenTotalShort track speed skating 5 5 10Skeleton 0 1 1Snowboarding 1 2 3Speed skating 10 10 20 Total 16 17 33

Niek van der Velden was the only male snowboarder on the team, but did not compete due to a broken shoulder. Jorien ter Mors competed in both short track and long track speed skating (hence the totals appear to be one short).

Short track speed skating

According to the ISU Special Olympic Qualification Rankings, the Netherlands have qualified a full squad of five men and five women each.

AthleteEventHeatQuarterfinalSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankDaan Breeuwsma500 m40.8062 40.677 2 Q40.7754 40.835 71000 m1:24.4294Did not advanceDylan Hoogerwerf500 m40.6572 Q41.007 3Did not advanceSjinkie Knegt500 mDid not advance1000 m1:23.8231 QDid not advance1500 m2:15.9493 Qcolspan=2 2:11.9001 2:10.555Itzhak de Laat1000 m1:24.6391 Q1:24.4233Did not advance1500 m2:15.6912 Qcolspan=2 2:11.7813 2:12.3626Daan BreeuwsmaSjinkie KnegtItzhak de LaatDennis Visser 5000 m relaycolspan=4 Did not advance Dylan Hoogerwerf was also part of the relay team, but did not compete.

Women AthleteEventHeatQuarterfinalSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankYara van Kerkhof500 m43.4302 43.197 2 Q43.1921 43.2561000 m1:43.3642 Q1:29.670 4Did not advanceJorien ter Mors1500 m2:28.5872 Qcolspan=2 2:34.3851 FA2:25.9555Lara van Ruijven500 m43.7713Did not advance1000 m1:30.8961 Q1:31.754 4Did not advanceSuzanne Schulting500 mDid not advance1000 m1:29.5191 Q1:29.377 2 Q1:30.949 1 FA1:29.778 1500 m2:27.7301 Qcolspan=2 2:34.6324 2:37.16310Yara van KerkhofJorien ter MorsLara van RuijvenSuzanne Schulting 3000 m relaycolspan=4 4:05.9773 FB4:03.471 WR Rianne de Vries was also part of the relay team, but did not compete.

Key: AA = Advanced to medal round due to being impeded by another skater; DNF = Did not finish; FA = Qualified to medal round; FB = Qualified to consolation round; PEN = Penalty; Q = Qualified to next round; WR = World record

Skeleton

Based on the world rankings, the Netherlands qualified two sleds. However, they elected to nominate only one athlete, Kimberley Bos, who was the first Dutch skeleton athlete ever to qualify for the Olympics. Although Bos met the international qualification criteria by virtue of her performance during the World Cup skeleton 2017–18, in which she finished in 13th place overall, she was not initially selected because she did not meet the NOC*NSF's own requirement (a top-12 place). However, NOC*NSF argued that Russian athlete Jelena Nikitina should be eliminated from the World Cup classification, as she had been excluded by the IOC from participating in the Olympics. When this was agreed, Bos rose to 12th place on the clean list for the World Cup classification, thereby fulfilling the NOC*NSF requirement, and her nomination was secured.

AthleteEventRun 1Run 2Run 3Run 4TotalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankKimberley BosWomen's52.33852.26751.99652.01 73:28.59 8

Snowboarding

Niek van der Velden was unable to compete because of a broken shoulder caused by a crash in the final training for the slopestyle.

Cheryl Maas fell in both runs of the women's slopestyle, so she did not play an important role in the final. Strong winds during the final caused many of the athletes to fall; Maas called the conditions "irresponsible". Freestyle AthleteEventQualificationFinalRun 1Run 2BestRankRun 1Run 2Run 3BestRankNiek van der VeldenMen's slopestyleWithdrew due to injuryMen's big airWithdrew due to injuryCheryl MaasWomen's slopestyle31.7135.3035.3023Women's big air65.0044.7565.0020 did not advance

Parallel AthleteEventQualificationRound of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / TimeRankOppositionTimeOppositionTimeOppositionTimeOppositionTimeRankMichelle DekkerWomen's giant slalom1:33.60 17Did not advance

Speed skating

The Dutch Olympic Committee selected the maximum allowed delegation of ten men and ten women, largely based on the results of the Olympic qualification tournament, held in December 2017. Kai Verbij was added for the 1000 metre event, because he was injured during the qualification race.

Men AthleteEventRaceTimeRankJorrit Bergsma10000 m12:41.98Jan Blokhuijsen5000 m6:14.757Sven Kramer5000 m6:09.76 10000 m13:01.026Ronald Mulder500 m34.839 7Kjeld Nuis1000 m1:07.951500 m1:44.01Patrick Roest1500 m1:44.86Jan Smeekens500 m34.93010Kai Verbij500 m34.90 91000 m1:08.616Koen Verweij1000 m1:09.1491500 m1:46.2611Bob de Vries5000 m6:22.2615

Women AthleteEventRaceTimeRankCarlijn Achtereekte3000 m3:59.21Lotte van Beek1500 m1:55.274500 m39.1823Anice Das500 m38.7519Antoinette de Jong3000 m4:00.02Marrit Leenstra1000 m1:14.8561500 m1:55.26Jorien ter Mors500 m37.53961000 m1:13.56 Esmee Visser5000 m6:50.23Annouk van der Weijden5000 m6:54.174Ireen Wüst1000 m1:15.3291500 m1:54.353000 m3:59.29

Mass start AthleteEventSemifinalFinalPointsTimeRankPointsTimeRankSven KramerMen's mass start68:24.514 08:13.9516Koen Verweij58:44.905 Q207:44.24Irene SchoutenWomen's mass start58:54.944 Q208:33.02Annouk van der Weijden408:32.312 Q08:42.1914

Team pursuit AthleteEventQuarterfinalSemifinalFinalOppositionTimeRankOppositionTimeRankOppositionTimeRankJan BlokhuijsenSven KramerKoen VerweijPatrick RoestMen's team pursuit 3:40.03 2 3:38.462 W 3:38.40Antoinette de JongMarrit LeenstraIreen WüstLotte van BeekWomen's team pursuitW 2:55.61 1 QW 3:00.411 L 2:55.48 Key: FA = Qualified to gold medal round; FB = Qualified to bronze medal round; L = Lost; OR = Olympic record; Q = Qualified to next round; W = Won

References