Former shorttracker Cees Juffermans (42) has been involved in every major event in the skating discipline he loves since 2012. As tournament director of the Dutch Lottery ISU World Short Track Championships presented by Odido, he is convinced that it will be better and more beautiful again than the 2017 edition, which also took place in Ahoy.
Why will this World Short Track Championships surpass the 2017 tournament held in Ahoy?
Cees Juffermans (pictured above as tournament director of the 2017 World Short Track Championships): “You can now take the learnings from last time. The World Short Track Championship in 2017 was an immense spectacle. Everyone then, including myself, was overwhelmed by how beautiful and how big it was, and how much enthusiasm it generated. The production now is just a little bit better than back then. The sport has again developed a bit further, the Dutch shorttrackers are doing better across the board.
“An event like this is all about a triangle: it has to be a nice tournament, you need good performances and you need attention. The hall will soon be full for three days, with just under 10,000 spectators at a time, so that attention is there. The stadium is insanely coolly decorated: when you walk around, you don’t know what you see. The performances complete the picture, they are the icing on the cake. If you put all the factors together, it becomes a tournament just that little bit better. As a lover of the sport, I may differ from the average Dutch supporter who prefers to see only the Dutch win. I can enjoy an event where only Koreans and Chinese win, or Canadians or Italians, just as much as when the Dutch do well.”
Juffermans then recalls the women’s relay final at the 2017 World Short Track Championships, in which Jorien ter Mors fell and the medal passed the Dutch team by. “Then we had the last ride, the men’s relay final. Sjinkie Knegt finished it magisterially in the last two laps. He rode to the finish line on the last straight, cheering. The hurricane of noise and joy in the stadium was enormous, nothing could compete with that. That’s why I too hope the Dutch team will do well.”
