XPost: nl.sport.wintersport, alt.global-warming, sci.geo.petroleum   
   XPost: sac.politics, alt.asshole.al-gore, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: democrat-criminals@mail.house.gov   
      
   https://apnews.com/article/skating-winter-olympics-netherlands-   
   coronavirus-pandemic-olympic-games-ba588386c59c5f30de56a67a86c3f9e6   
      
   DOORN, Netherlands (AP) — A deep winter freeze gripping the Netherlands is   
   reawakening the national obsession with skating on frozen canals.   
      
   With subzero temperatures forecast to last more than a week, ice fever   
   swept the nation Tuesday, offering a welcome respite from grim coronavirus   
   news while also creating a challenge for authorities trying to uphold   
   social distancing rules.   
      
   People around the country were rummaging through attics and dusting off   
   long-unused skates, while businesses that sharpen skate blades reported   
   boom times.   
      
   Ice skating is a national wintertime passion in the Netherlands, with the   
   country’s spandex-clad elite athletes dominating Winter Olympic   
   speedskating races in recent years. Amateurs of all ages eagerly await the   
   Arctic conditions that allow them to take to the country’s vast network of   
   canals and waterways.   
      
   But with the country in a strict coronavirus lockdown, the prospect of a   
   long-distance skating race in the northern province of Friesland being   
   staged for the first time since 1997 remains remote at best.   
      
   The association that organizes the 11 Cities Tour over frozen canals and   
   lakes said in January that “under the current coronavirus measures, it is   
   not possible to organize” the near mythical event. Since then, authorities   
   have not relaxed the measures beyond allowing elementary school students   
   back into classrooms this week.   
      
   The chairman of the association poured more cold water on people’s hopes   
   Tuesday, noting just what a production the race normally involves.   
      
   “We’re talking about a tour with 1--1.5 million spectators, 25,000   
   participants, thousands of volunteers and half of the Netherlands on the   
   road,” Wiebe Wieling told national broadcaster NOS. “Every right-thinking   
   person will realize that something like that is not possible” amid the   
   pandemic.   
      
   Prime Minister Mark Rutte weighed in on the debate Monday night, saying   
   that skating authorities could consider allowing races on natural ice if   
   the country’s top 120 racers enter a coronavirus bubble. But he, too, said   
   that staging an event with a huge numbers of spectators was out of the   
   question, even if it is outdoors.   
      
   Still, Rutte said the Dutch should make the most of the conditions while   
   they last.   
      
   “Enjoy this beautiful weather and the ice,” Rutte said. “But do that   
   within the COVID-19 rules.”   
      
   Dutch media reported a few hardy souls risking a skate on thin ice in   
   parts of the Netherlands on Tuesday, but for the time being temporary ice   
   tracks were the safest place to lace up one’s skates.   
      
   Local schoolchildren visited the skating club in Doorn, 65 kilometers (40   
   miles) southeast of Amsterdam, which created its rink by spraying water   
   onto an outdoor inline skating track and built up an even ice surface by   
   dragging a Persian rug around it.   
      
   Canals are expected to be frozen solid enough later in the week for people   
   to skate on. Authorities in Amsterdam have closed locks and banned boats   
   on parts of the city’s World Heritage-listed ring of canals to give them a   
   better chance of freezing over.   
      
   The municipality, however, also warned skaters to stick to social   
   distancing and other coronavirus restrictions.   
      
   “The coronavirus rules for public places also apply on the ice,” City Hall   
   said.   
      
   It was not only ice skating fans preparing for the big chill.   
      
   A zoo in the central Netherlands moved 15 penguins indoors and out of the   
   cold Tuesday. Unlike their Antarctic cousins, the black-footed penguins   
   hail from South Africa and Namibia and aren’t used to such icy conditions,   
   Burgers’ Zoo said.   
      
   The freezing conditions also created natural ice sculptures in a marina in   
   the village of Monnikendam, just north of Amsterdam on Markermeer Lake,   
   with boats moored there swathed in swirling sheets of ice.   
      
   Lines of wind-blown icicles hung off boat railings and ropes, and ice   
   coated a set of children’s swings and trees near the edge of the snow-   
   covered frozen waters of the lake.   
      
   “We’re living in the most beautiful painting of the 17th century,” Rutte   
   said.   
      
      
      
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