PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He completely dominated his sport but retired prematurely.
Today we celebrate the unique Nils van der Poel on his 28th birthday.
And he now reveals everything about the unexpected coup at the Sports Gala.
Already at a young age hit Nils van der Poel through as a great talent in skating with two consecutive JVM golds in 2014 and 2015. But then he failed to live up to expectations as a senior and we struggled for several years with weak results.
Poel’s great success
In 2018, van der Poel took a break from skating altogether due to a lack of motivation. His comeback to the ice a few years later was the start of a completely unlikely success story.
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During the years 2021-2022, the Swede shocked the entire world elite and completely dominated. Nils van der Poel won three World Cup golds, two Olympic golds and broke world records in both the 5,000m and 10,000m before ending his career prematurely aged just 25.
Incredible coup
In January 2023, the Swedish skating king was awarded both the prestigious Bragdguldet and the people’s prize the Jerring prize at the Sports Gala. He also broke into big laughs when he began his acceptance speech by poking fun at equestrian sports.
– I didn’t think I would get this, I can’t ride…, he said in front of the entire Swedish people.
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But it could have been an even bigger mockery as van der Poel had planned the most brazen coup. The hero of the feat had been preparing for a long time to ride a horse (!) during the Sports Gala.
– Hehe, I actually had a small vision before this gala that I would receive the Bragdguldet riding on a horse. I took riding lessons in December to try and sort it out, but we couldn’t get a horse that could ride on a stage with 1,000 people in the venue, so we had to manage it. But we were pretty serious about our vision there for a while. I actually learned to gallop, I got this far, he tells Aftonbladet.
READ MORE: Unexpected criticism after Nils van der Poel’s historic victory in the Champions of Champions: “Never in our history…”
But at the last moment, Nils van der Poel was stopped from taking a horse into the Globe.
– I think it was horses’ ability to handle a lot of people and my absolute lack of ability to handle horses…, he says about the reason why the coup was cancelled.
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