Yara VAN KERKHOF

TEAM SPIRIT
In 2021, she dedicated her World Championship relay victory in Dordrecht to her former teammate Lara van Ruijven, who died in 2020 following complications from an autoimmune disorder.

"We have finally been able to realise the dream that we had with her for years, partly thanks to all the training sessions with her on the relay. Her focus and perseverance especially have brought us so much as a team. It feels like we have become world champions as the six of us and not as a fivesome...It is in moments like these that we miss her the most. We have shared joys and sorrows with each other for years. Lara will always have a place in our hearts.” (ad.nl, 11 Mar 2021)

EUROPEAN DISAPPOINTMENT
Left off the national team for the 2021 European Championships in Gdansk in favour of giving younger skaters experience in a competitive season truncated by the pandemic. "I skate well and hard in the training sessions, so I expected that I would be allowed to start in the relay. I was not counting on an individual spot, so I was at peace with that. They want to give the youth a chance at the relay, I can't argue with that." (schaatsen.nl, 8 Jan 2021)

DOPING DRAMA
The ISU opened a case against her in 2018 after finding irregularities in her blood values in 2015 and 2016. The ISU report initially called for a four-year ban to be imposed, before the Disciplinary Committee acquitted her of any doping offense. The Committee accepted that a deviation in the blood circulation of her lungs, caused by her congenital heart defect, caused her blood to respond exceptionally to altitude and to long-haul flights, and she was cleared to participate at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

In April 2018, WADA appealed the ISU's acquittal. She incurred EUR80,000 in fees, four times her Olympic prize money, and said her feelings about her Olympic medal were overshadowed. "The negative feeling prevailed. That was expressed in what happened after the Games. A world opens up for some athletes, in terms of possibilities, sponsors and fun things. But I only had shit in my path. I was no longer the Yara of the Olympic medals, but the Yara suspected of doping. A lot of joy was taken away from me." She worked with a psychologist in the aftermath.

In October 2018, WADA dropped its appeal against her. "I stand for a clean sport. That's why I'm super happy that the truth has finally won and my innocence has been proven. This feeling is indescribably beautiful. I hope that I will soon recover from the mental and financial blows and that from now on I can finally enjoy the most beautiful sport on earth without stress and worries." (insidethegames.biz, 16 May 2018, trouw.nl, 11 Oct 2018, ad.nl, 24 Oct 2018, nos.nl, 31 Dec 2018, schaatsen.nl, 28 Jul 2019)HEART

CONDITION
Born with a congenital heart disease which was not discovered until she was three years old. She had open-heart surgery to repair the hole in her heart (atrial septal defect), the day after her seventh birthday.

In May 2019, she became ambassador of the Children's Heart Foundation (Stichting Hartekind) in the Netherlands. She did not worry more about the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of her condition. "I wasn't afraid of it. I am not more vulnerable than other people." (isu.org, hartstichting.nl, hartekind.nl, ad.nl, 31 May 2020)

© Data by Sports Data Warehouse

Won gold in the 3000m relay at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

First Dutch woman to win an Olympic medal in short track when she claimed silver in the 500m event at Pyeongchang 2018.

Member of the Dutch women's relay team that won a bronze medal at PyeongChang 2018 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.

Seven-time European relay champion.

Seven-time World Cup gold medallist in 3000m relay.