Katie Couric Is Skating On Thin Ice With Dutch Olympics Fans
NBC Olympics commentator Katie Couric managed to tick off plenty of people in the Netherlands when she attempted to explain the country’s dominance in speed skating.
Couric called skating “an important mode of transportation” in the city of Amsterdam.
“As you all know, it has lots of canals that can freeze in the winters,” Couric said during the Opening Ceremony. “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.”
While that might sound like a nifty explanation, it’s not entirely accurate. Amsterdam has canals, which can freeze in winter. Certainly, some people enjoy skating on them at those times. But the canals don’t freeze all winter and in plenty of years, they don’t freeze at all.
The Dutch Review said the country’s dominance in speed skating was more likely due to the sport’s popularity there combined with big investments in Olympic-level training. This was quickly pointed out to Couric on Twitter:
Rush Hour in the Netherlands. pic.twitter.com/RRpDBV9pDX
— DirkJanMoedt (@moedtdj) February 11, 2018
In summer us Dutch swim to work and grocery store via the canals. You'll hear that next summer Olympics.
— Jos Duijvestein 🇳🇱 (@JosDuijvestein) February 10, 2018
Hey @nbc This is the equivalent of a flat tire while on my way to work pic.twitter.com/F2rB4ZlKQS
— Tien (@queentien75) February 11, 2018
Dear @katiecouric, the Dutch do NOT skate to work.
Skating on clogs is too hard, even for us. https://t.co/WkwQ0yQTIf— Gert van Dijk (@Gert_van_Dijk) February 11, 2018
Dutch commuting to work in tulip farms and windmills using special ‘clog’ skates pic.twitter.com/fClJfJq2kJ
— Jonathan Williams (@jonwilliams80) February 11, 2018
Next up: Why Russians are so good at biathlon (mostly from chasing James Bond in the snow).
— davepaisley (@davepaisley) February 11, 2018
It’s true..this is one of my friends going ice skating on a Dutch canal last winter pic.twitter.com/MbZYh62DZt
— chris (@cpd32) February 11, 2018
Here's me thinking you get to work by propelling yourselves from windmill to windmill. Silly me, least i've now been suitably educated by NBC
— Mo Talib (@motali86) February 11, 2018
This is is the truth, and nothing but the truth. Here a picture of The Netherlands during summer. pic.twitter.com/shU6FRpF6M
— Barth-Jan (@SonOfTalmai) February 11, 2018
Last week I got a speed skating speeding ticket.
— Niels (@NielsvanWeert) February 11, 2018
No visitor to Amsterdam can have missed the hordes of Dutchvolk speeding past, borne on modified clog-skates, and propelled by tactically placed windmills. https://t.co/lV60AprAZa
— Seamas, based on the novel Push by Sapphire (@shockproofbeats) February 11, 2018
We in Australia all use the Uber Kangaroo service to get from A to B. Skippy managed to get me across town by leaping single buildings in one bound the other day.
— Sash Dordevic (@bks8472) February 11, 2018
Yes and here in Canada we take the dog sled from our igloo home to our igloo office.
— Jos Duijvestein 🇳🇱 (@JosDuijvestein) February 11, 2018
Exactly! This is also why the British team does so well at cycling in the Olympics; it's a little known fact that we all travel everywhere by Penny Farthing. pic.twitter.com/pvEFhg6iC1
— 👑Princess Anna 🇪🇺❄️ (@mrsspanner) February 11, 2018
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.