Katie Couric mocked for remarks on Dutch transportation

Katie Couric was chastised for her comments about Dutch transportation purposes while speaking during the Olympic opening ceremony in Pyeongchang on Friday.

On the topic of speed skating, NBC’s Olympic commentator Couric was heard claiming that residents of Amsterdam often ‘skate’ their way most everywhere in the winter months – suggesting it to be a possible explanation for their athletic talent.

‘It has lots of canals that can freeze in the winter… so for as long as those canals have existed, the Dutch have skated on them to get from place to place, to race each other and also to have fun,’ Couric said.

Couric’s comments were not entirely inaccurate, as Olympic.org reports of speed skating history that the sport originated in the Netherlands and folks have skated from ‘village to village as far back as the 13th century.’ 

Still, the Virginia-born broadcaster was instantly slammed by a slew of Dutch Twitter users afterward.

Katie Couric was slammed for her remarks about Dutch transportation purposes on Friday

Couric, for NBC, made the remarks while covering the Olympic opening ceremony in Pyeongchang

Couric suggested: ‘For as long as those canals have existed, the Dutch have skated on them to get from place to place, to race each other and also to have fun,’ Shown: People skate on the frozen Prinsengracht canal in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in February 2012

Netherlands’ Ireen Wust (C) celebrates her gold win on the podium with silver winner Japan’s Miho Takagi (L) and bronze winner Netherlands’ Marrit Leenstra (R) during the women’s 1,500m speed skating event venue ceremony on Monday

SO DID COURIC HAVE A POINT? HOW SPEED SKATING ORIGINATED IN THE NETHERLANDS

Source: Olympic.org 

‘Speed skating began as a rapid form of transportation across frozen lakes and rivers. It made its debut on the Olympic programme at the 1924 Winter Games.

EARLY PIONEERS

The Dutch were arguably the earliest pioneers of skating. They began using canals to maintain communication by skating from village to village as far back as the 13th century. Skating eventually spread across the channel to England, and soon the first clubs and artificial rinks began to form. Passionate skaters included several kings of England, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon III and German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

EARLY COMPETITION

The first known skating competition is thought to have been held in the Netherlands in 1676. However, the first official speed skating events were not held until 1863 in Oslo, Norway. In 1889, the Netherlands hosted the first World Championships, bringing together Dutch, Russian, American and English teams.

OLYMPIC HISTORY

Speed skating appeared for the first time in 1924 at the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix. Initially, only men were allowed to participate. It was only at the Lake Placid Games in 1932 that women were authorised to compete in speed skating, which was then only a demonstration sport. It was not until the 1960 Games in Squaw Valley that women’s speed skating was officially included in the Olympic programme.

The events almost always follow the European system, which consists of skaters competing two-by-two. At the 1932 Olympic Games, the Americans organised American-style events, i.e. with a mass start. This decision brought about a boycott by many European competitors, which allowed the Americans to win the four gold medals. This system would give birth to short-track speed skating, which was added to the Olympic programme in Albertville in 1992.’

‘In summer, us Dutch swim to work and grocery store via the canals. You’ll hear that next summer Olympics,’ one user mocked Couric.

Another joked, alongside a photo of speed skaters: ‘Rush Hour in Netherlands.’

While another said: ‘This is also why the British team does so well at cycling in the Olympics; it’s a little know fact that we all travel everything by Penny Farthing.’

One more added: ‘Yes, a few of us skate to work the 5 days we have ice (on average). The other 360 days we either stay home, or sometimes use bikes or cars or trains to get to work.’

He then joked further: ‘Busy day ahead, have meetings in 11 cities, better sharpen my ice skates.’

Dutch media outlets were also quick to tease Couric for her comments. 

Flag bearer Jan Smeekens of the Netherlands leads his country during the Opening Ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at PyeongChang Olympic Stadium on Friday

In an article titled, ‘It’s that rumour again: no, the Dutch do not skate to work in winter,’ DutchNews.ln shot down the claims. 

NO, THE DUTCH DO NOT SKATE TO WORK IN THE WINTER

‘Rather than skate to work, today’s Dutch are more likely to have time off in the rare event the canals freeze over. 

If someone is ijsvrij – literally ice free – it does not mean they have been defrosted, but that they have been given an extra day’s holiday to enjoy some skating’

– DutchNews.ln 

‘Rather than skate to work, today’s Dutch are more likely to have time off in the rare event the canals freeze over. If someone is ijsvrij – literally ice free – it does not mean they have been defrosted, but that they have been given an extra day’s holiday to enjoy some skating,’ the news site said.

In Couric’s defense, DutchNews.ln said her remarks were not the first time an American spoke about the notion.

‘In winter months, skating is a sensible form of transportation, as commuters skate along frozen canals to visit family or friends who live many villages away,’ International Business Times sports writer Bobby Ilich wrote during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.   

‘Much of the country sits below sea level, so it’s frequently not a particularly arduous journey to travel by skates… The Dutch begin wearing skates as toddlers, so for some, skating is as common as walking. Some travel for hours and hours on their skates and see nothing strange about it.’  

 

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