WINTER OLYMPIC SPECIAL: Speed Skating 101

Professor Florentina 'Fleur' Hettinga loves speed skating. Not only has she competed as an athlete in the discipline, but she has also researched many elements of the sport, from the physiology of the top athletes to the technical expertise and equipment needed to be among the best. Based in Amsterdam, Hettinga is at the centre of Dutch speed skating excellence, serving as Head of Department of Human Movement Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit and as a professor at the Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences. Hettinga talks Mike and Ross through the fascinating equipment used in modern speed skating, the technical skills that need to be honed to be competitive, and the unique, non-event-specific training that many of the top speed skaters employ. If you're watching the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games, start here. SHOW NOTES: Fleur Hettinga’s research profile The training insights of Nils van der Poel Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can listen to WINTER OLYMPIC SPECIAL: Speed Skating 101 online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

WINTER OLYMPIC SPECIAL: Speed Skating 101 is an episode from The Real Science of Sport Podcast by Mike Finch.

This episode is 1:20:07 long.

This episode was published on Feb 6, 2026.

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