Nils VAN DER POEL

BREAKS
He took a six-month break from the sport in early 2015. He had become tired of the sport and spent three months training with the Swedish military. "I was 18 years old and all I did was go to school and go skating. I just wanted to do things like other guys of my age."

In 2018, after the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, he took another break, this time for two years. The first year, he served in the military, the second year he was mostly active as an ultra-runner. In 2020 he returned, according to his coach, "much more motived." (schaatsen.nl, 19 Jan 2021; Info 2018).

FROM JOY TO GRIEF
Just days after winning two world titles and breaking the 10000m world record at the 2021 World Championships in Heerenveen, he received news that his mother Agneta, a deacon with the Church of Sweden, had her cancer return and she passed away two weeks later. "I will never be the same again. My mother gave me everything I needed to take care of myself, but she did not give me everything I wanted. I had wished for another 24 years with her." (ttela.se, 31 Jul 2021)

HERITAGE
His paternal grandfather was Dutch, while his maternal grandmother was Hungarian. (slaktingar.se, 2021)

© Data by Sports Data Warehouse

Won gold in the 5000m at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Also won gold in the 10000m in Beijing, in world record time.