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Louis Dor
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During the NBC coverage of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, broadcaster Katie Couric produced some laughable commentary.
As the athletes from The Netherlands began to parade into the stadium, Couric decided to comment on their prowess in speed skating. Which is fair, given their strength on the ice.
It is probably not a news flash to tell you the Dutch are really, really good at speed skating.
All but five of the 110 medals they’ve won have been on the speed skating oval.
So far so good, and non-stereotypical. This next part is where things went downhill.
Now, ‘Why are they so good?’ you may be asking yourselves. Because skating is an important mode of transportation in a city like Amsterdam which sits at sea level. As you all know, it has lots of canals that can freeze in the winters.
So, for as long as those canals have existed, the Dutch have skated on them to get from place to place, to race each other, and also to have fun.
The moment was tweeted by Jos Duijvestein, who started a thread of people mocking the ill-informed coverage.
@AUMBA10 In summer us Dutch swim to work and grocery store via the canals. You'll hear that next summer Olympics.— Jos Duijvestein 🇳🇱 🇨🇦 (@Jos Duijvestein 🇳🇱 🇨🇦) 1518286874
@ThomasHogeling @JosDuijvestein Indeed! This is the typical morning commute for the windmill workers in Amsterdam https://t.co/Y15HX3gzGx— Steven Ottens 🐈 (@Steven Ottens 🐈) 1518347610
@stvno @ThomasHogeling @JosDuijvestein About time government does something about these terrible skating traffic jams each morning...— Christoph Schmidt (@Christoph Schmidt) 1518349534
@JosDuijvestein This is business class in the Netherlands! https://t.co/GW81YYoAeP— Miss Little Bean (@Miss Little Bean) 1518354752
@yesdogman @iamcautionlee @JosDuijvestein After we had some tulip bulbs for breakfast ofcourse...— I.G. (@I.G.) 1518363765
The Dutch also trolled the United States after a medal sweep in the women's 3,000 metre speed skating, becoming the first country to get a 1,2,3, in Pyeongchang.
Two women in the stands celebrated with a message to Donald Trump.
Sorry #Trump @POTUS The Netherlands First - Second and Thirth!! #Olympics #Iceskating https://t.co/KqUbBB3jE5— Jeantin Boltjes (@Jeantin Boltjes) 1518289982
Sorry Mr. President... The Netherlands FIRST... and second... and third!
What happened to America First?
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