Editing Speed skating (section)

===Elfstedentocht===
[[File:De 10e Elfstedentocht.ogv|thumb|Historical footage of the 1954 [[Elfstedentocht]] with Dutch commentary]]

The [[Elfstedentocht]] was organized as a competition in 1909 and has been held at irregular intervals, whenever the ice on the course is deemed good enough. Other outdoor races developed later, with [[Friesland]] in the northern Netherlands hosting a race in 1917, but the Dutch natural ice conditions have rarely been conducive to skating. The Elfstedentocht has been held 15 times in the nearly 100 years since 1909, and, before artificial ice was available in 1962, national championships had been held in 25 of the years between 1887, when the first championship was held in [[Slikkerveer]], and 1961. Since artificial ice became common in the Netherlands, Dutch speed skaters have been among the world top in long track ice skating and marathon skating. Another solution to still be able to skate marathons on natural ice became the Alternative Elfstedentocht. The Alternative Elfstedentocht races take part in other countries, such as [[Austria]], [[Finland]] or [[Canada]], and all top marathon skaters, as well as thousands of recreative skaters, travel from the Netherlands to the location where the race is held. According to the [[NRC Handelsblad]] journalist Jaap Bloembergen, the country "takes a carnival look" during international skating championships.<ref>[http://www.nrc.nl/W2/Lab/Profiel/Netherlands/sports.html Less orange during the uneven years], from nrc.nl, published 1 July 1999</ref>