Dutch don’t let it slide after US Olympic commentator Katie Couric says canal skating is ‘important mode of transport’ for them
US journalist Katie Couric said she was “on thin ice” and apologised on Tuesday after she was relentlessly mocked for claiming Dutch success at the Olympics was because skating is an “important mode of transport” in the Netherlands.
Hot on the heels of their stunning medals triumph in Sochi in 2014, the Dutch men and women speed skaters are already notching up major victories at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
During Friday’s opening ceremony, as the Dutch team entered the stadium, Couric pondered to her audience of millions watching NBC television in the United States: “Why are they so good, you may be asking yourselves?
Amsterdam “has lots of canals that can freeze in winter. So for as long as the canals have existed the Dutch have skated on them to get from place to place to race each other and to have fun”, the veteran broadcaster added.