Irene Schouten: Top things to know about the triple Olympic champion

Irene Schouten did what most people expected of her at the Olympics: win gold for the Netherlands at Beijing 2022.

But the speed skater was not content with just being an Olympic champion.

She gracefully and swiftly secured her position as the queen of the Ice Ribbon with three gold medals and a bronze.

It has been a busy period for the Dutch star who had her days fully occupied between training and skating in Beijing.

She has also been busy planning for her upcoming wedding.

Here are five things you should know about the ice distance queen who won the first and last speed skating events in Beijing and is tipped to dominate again at the 2022 World Speed Skating Championships in Hamar, Norway.

Schouten let out a scream and threw her hands in the air as she crossed the finish line of the women’s mass start.

Her third gold medal at Beijing 2022 was hard-earned. It was worth every effort. All perfectly Schouten, a natural born long-distance skater. She started skating consistently when she was 8.

Watching her first Olympics, 2002 Salt Lake, she was captivated by compatriot Gretha Smit’s silver winning moment in the 5000m.

That Olympic moment cemented her passion for the long-distance races in speed skating. “When I was young, I had a big dream to win Olympic gold and now I have it,” she told NBC after her 5000m gold in Beijing.

The 29-year-old grew up in a family of speed skaters. Her three siblings all liked skating.

The young Schoutens would take a bus together to the local track every Saturday but it was only Irene and her brother, Simon, who pursued skating professionally. Simon was a 2018 team pursuit European champion. The two siblings have both tasted Dutch marathon championship victory, Simon topping the men's B