Kjeld NUIS

BOUNCING BACK
As a defending Olympic champion, he missed qualifying for the 2022 Dutch Olympic team in the 1000m at the Trials, placing fourth, 0.12 seconds behind his teammate Hein Otterspeer. One day later, he bounced back to win the 1500m - in which he is also the defending Olympic champion. "My first feeling was actually more disappointment for missing the 1000m ticket and being unable to defend my title. So I was briefly happy after the finish, but 200m later I was cursing again. Do you know how much it hurts I cannot defend my title? Even if 100,000 people said I'll get it on the 1500m, I wouldn't want to hear it. But I did it." (ad.nl, 30 Dec 2021)

HEART TROUBLE
In July 2021 he was diagnosed with an inflamed pericardium. Tests at the hospital showed it was a side effect of his vaccination for the Covid-19 virus. "If there's something wrong with your heart, it's scary. An ankle injury is annoying, but I still have to go through my whole life with my heart. All sorts of things were going through my head. Fortunately I have fully recovered from it and I think I don't think about it anymore. I accepted that I couldn't do anything about it, and then thought, 'What can I do to get fit again as soon as possible?' That brought me peace." (nu.nl, 29 Oct 2021)

SPEED RECORD
In March 2018 he set a record for the fastest speed achieved on ice skates in Lulea, Sweden. He reached a top speed of 93kph on a 1500m-long natural ice track, protected from winds by a front-runner car with an air shield. "It was a pretty weird experience. It was like I was flying on the ice. My performance is a team effort because more than 40 people were involved in the preparation. I am almost as thrilled as I was at the Olympic Games." (lequipe.fr, 29 Mar 2018)

SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST
After missing out on selection for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, he began seeing a sports psychologist. Prior to this, he says he was easily affected by factors out of his control, such as an ice resurfacer coming on just before his race. Through the psychologist he has learned to adjust his mental approach and has implemented techniques such as breathing exercises, counting heartbeats and writing things down to cope with stress. "I am convinced that it works for me." (nsl.nl, 30 Dec 2017; nos.nl, 18 Oct 2017)

TATTOO
Has a large tattoo of a clock being held up by two hands on his left upper arm with letters on the clock-face. "The letters are the initials of my parents and my little brother. It stands for timeless love. My parents and my brother have always been there for me. It is just nice to show that the meaning of the tattoo is something human." (Info 2018)

© Data by Sports Data Warehouse

Became the third speed skater to win the 1000m/1500m double at the same Olympic Winter Games at Beijing 2022, after Eric Heiden (USA) at Lake Placid 1980 and Gaetan Boucher (CAN) at Sarajevo 1984.

His margin of victory in the 1500m (0.85 seconds) was the largest in the event since Eric Heiden (USA) won by 1.37 seconds at Lake Placid 1980.