As of today, the Netherlands has 22 medals. 21 of them are from speed skating events.

So the obvious question: why are they so freaking good at speed skating?

According to a few articles I’ve read on the subject, not only are they tall (average height is above 6 feet), which allows them to take very long strides, but speed skating is very much a part of their culture. A lot of the country’s top athletes go into speed skating rather than anything else (aside from soccer) and there are 17 training ovals for speed skaters throughout the country (the US has two).

There are 7 commercial speed skating teams in the Netherlands with around 60 professionals total, and when the Dutch Olympic trials are held, the speed skating portion is said to be the most competitive in the world because so many Dutch people are good skaters.

So it sounds like speed skating is just something the Dutch do, and clearly, they do it well.