Netherlands dominate action in Heerenveen: Jutta Leerdam, Irene Schouten and Bart Hoolwerf all win gold

There was plenty of Dutch success to celebrate on home ice across the first two nights of skating World Cup action in Heerenveen.

Friday evening’s action started in fine style for the Netherlands, with Jutta Leerdam victorious in the women’s 1000m.

Leerdam’s time of 1:13.77 was enough to see her strike gold, 0.15s ahead of Japan’s Miho Takagi in second, while Isabel Grevelt finished third for the hosts.

China’s Zhongyan Ning took home the men’s title over the distance, with Dutchman Joep Wennemars in second and Marten Liiv of Estonia in third.

Irene Schouten claimed victory at home in the women’s mass start on Friday.

Three-time Olympic champion Schouten, who won this event at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, won the event with a total of 60 points.

Compatriot Marijke Groenewoud finished in second place with 54 points, while Ivanie Blondin of Canada took bronze with a score of 48 points.

And there was more for the home crowd to cheer on with Bart Hoolwerf triumphant in the men’s event.

Hoolwerf scored 60 points to take gold, with South Korea’s Jae Won Chung finishing in second and Andrea Giovannini third.

Saturday’s action started in equally strong style for the Dutch with Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong claiming victory in the women’s 1500m.

De Jong finished ahead of Takagi, who came second once again, and third-placed Groenewoud.

However, they had to settle for bronze in the men’s 500m, with Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil taking home the gold medal.

Dubreuil’s time of 34.34 seconds saw him edge out Japan’s Wataru Morishige by 0.11s, with Merijn Scheperkamp finishing in third for the home nation.

Yet they were back at the top of the podium in the men’s 5000m, with Patrick Roest taking the win ahead of the Norwegian duo of Sander Eitrem and Hallgeir Engebraten.

And Saturday’s action ended in perfect fashion with the hosts taking the women’s team sprint title.