Jenning de Boo: Skating Sensation

New skating hero De Boo ready for European Championships: ‘Underdog position is now over’

All eyes on De Boo after a successful weekend: ‘That underdog position is now over’

Skater Jenning de Boo set to conquer European Championships

Skater Jenning de Boo was on a planet far, far away. The teenager shot himself last Thursday his first National Championship distances light years deep into space with two 500 meter rockets. One of 34.44, the other of 34.49. And he also won the 1,000 meters.

The 19-year-old skating sensation had to check with buddy Janno Botman two days earlier whether the 500 meters at the National Championships consisted of one or two races, De Boo admitted with slight embarrassment. “I could do with reading up a bit better.”

From underdog to hero

And rightly so, because in the coming days he will be in action at the European Championship distances in Heerenveen. The 1,000 meters awaits Friday, the 500 meters on Sunday.

Fastest lap ever

Innocence on deadly sharp knives. Yet De Boo fiercely rejected cleanliness in the first full lap of the 1,000 meters last Saturday. His 24.45 was the fastest lap ever driven in Thialf, the fastest lap ever on a lowland track. It also gave him the winning time: 1.07.36. Only four times in Heerenveen was the kilometer driven faster.

And that for a skater who was a short tracker in a Frisian training team last year.

Turning heads in the skating world

“Scarily good,” Kjeld Nuis called his teammate at Reggeborgh. Coach Gerard van Velde made a great move last summer. The Olympic kilometer champion from Salt Lake City (2002) brought De Boo into the team, just when the 19-year-old talent had fully opted for the long track.

Jealous cornering technique brought from the short track, in which he curls the 1.95 meter long body with cat-like flexibility, and tips from a coach with a similar build turned out to be a cosmic meeting. Things have been going fast since the first laps. Very fast.

Setting new records

De Boo cut 3.3 seconds off his personal record for the 1,000 meters in the first few months. He now skates the 500 meters faster by 1.4 seconds. The question arises as to what the rest of the season has in store for him. To start with, this weekend’s European Championship distances.

Fat grin

The rush of victory has not yet disappeared from his body, the youngest star in the Dutch skating firmament admits. “You can’t just get rid of them, of course. But for me they are taken over by the nerves. Healthy nerves. That is the predominant emotion, I think. It started a bit yesterday, but tomorrow they will of course be there.” .”

He is scheduled to run the 1,000 meters on the opening day of that three-day tournament. The pace lap he completed in the run-up to the European Championships proved that all the hassle after his successful weekend – “I’ll save most of it for after the European Championships” – has not affected his speed.

“I just had Kjell lying down,” he says with a big grin on his face. “That was nice for a while. I was five hundredths faster.”

New challenges await

There seems little reason to worry. Or nerves. “Yes, but you can also say: there is an extra load of pressure after such a weekend. And it is there unnoticed. I just hope it is healthy pressure.”

Because he may still feel the same, but something has certainly changed, De Boo realizes. “I had that nice underdog position. That was really great. That’s over now. I hope I can still drive really fast. We’ll have to see that this weekend.”

The Groninger does not dare to say whether this will actually work. “It’s difficult for me to say. Yes, I can win. There is certainly a chance. And I can now ride three times. I have an extra chance: the team sprint with the men. I’m really looking forward to that too.” in. That is one of the more fun parts. But I don’t dare to make predictions.”

Jenning de Boo in the NOS Skating Podcast

The skater from Team Reggeborgh also won the 1,000 meters at the National Championship distances after the 500 meters. And again in an impressive way.