Here at CRAVE we like to tell you about strong smart women doing remarkable things and athletes are no exception. Now that February is finally here, we thought we’d fill you in on some of the local women to lookout for who have earned their way to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, beginning Friday, February 12.

Not surprising, speed skating is very well represented in the olympics by the Dutch sportswomen.

Margot Boer is a Dutch speed skater. She is specialised in riding the 500 m, 1000 m and 1500 m. After spending a few years at local teams in the Zuid-Holland area Margot Boer was seen as one of the Netherlands main future talents and was offered a contract at the KNSB Youth Development Team for the 2006-07 speed skating season. In the years before she already participated in several World Cup meetings. Her first success in her new team was winning a gold medal on the 500 m at the 2007 KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships. You can follow her updates on Twitter.

Annette Gerritsen specialises in riding the 500 m and 1000 m. She is the current Dutch Junior record holder in the 500 m (38.57) and her personal best (1.16.14) used to be the World Junior record. She also holds the World Junior record with her Dutch team mates in the team pursuit (3.12.37). Wish her luck on twitter!

Renate Groenewold (3000 meter) is a Dutch long track speed skater and road bicycle racer. Groenewold has won several Dutch Championships. In 1999, 2002 and 2003 she won the Dutch allround championship. On the European Allround Championships she has won various medals. In 2005 she won the silver medal which was her best result at the European Allround Championships. In 2001 she also came in third in the overall ranking on the World Allround Championships, which she won in 2004. She won the silver medal on the 3000 m in 2002 at the Olympic Wintergames. Renate joined twitter not too long ago. Encourage her to twit!

Thijsje Oenema (500 meter) is a Dutch speedskater in “short-track sprinter”. Oenema skates for the VPZ-skating team and is a member for skating club S.T.D. Sint Nicolaasga. Her breaktrough was during the 2009 KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships, winning the bronze medal at the 500m. With this 3rd place she qualified for the first time for the World Cups. Oenema also showed that season that she is also very strong at the 100m. In 2006 and 2007 she was already the dutch champion at this distance. In the same season she took the tittle at the dutch championships supersprint managing to qualify for the Olympics in Vancouver. Of course, she has a twitter account.

Laurine van Riessen had a brake through in the 2006/2007 season with fourth place in the Sprint and NK half spot on the Junior Innsbruck, even while she was a 1000 meter world record holder for juniors. At the beginning of the 2008/09 season, she went to the NK distance of qualifying for the 2009 World 500 meter races at the fifth place. On December 7, 2008 she won in Changchun (China) in the 1000 meter (with a new track record of 1.17,25) win its first-WB . In the final standings ended in the 1500 meter van Riessen third. Van Riessen has managed to qualify for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, what they will do at three distances: the 500 meter, the 1000 meters and 1500 meters.

Diane Valkenburg is a speed skater who is specialised in middle distances. She represented her country at the 2007 Winter Universiade held in Turin where she won the gold medal at the team pursuit. On November 1st, 2008, she won the fifth spot on the 3000 meter during the 2009 NK Distances World Cup.

Jorien Voorhuis is a Dutch skater for the team VPZ. Her favorite distances are the 1500 and 3000 meters. Her international breakthrough was in 2003 for the World Junior Championships in Kushiro (Japan). She won 2nd place in the 1500 meter. The following year she was 8th. At the NK-round in 2006 in Utrecht, she won the bronze medal. From there on she had a number of victories including Gold medal in Assen (2005) and Groeningen(2006) and of course managing to qualify for this year’s Winter Olympic Games.

Elma de Vries is a Dutch marathon speed skater and inline speed skater. De Vries was three years old when she started riding on skates on a small creek near her home, but first became part of a club in artistic gymnastics and athletics before becoming a member at a speed skating club in Noordenveld in 1991. In 1996 she was asked to represent the national youth squad of her regional team and eventually represented the Netherlands at five Junior European Championships.  In two years time as a member of Jong Oranje she appeared on two Junior World Championships. The next two years in the KNSB team she was part of the talent raising squad for starting seniors, while in inline skating she represented the Netherlands in the 2002, 2004 and 2005 European Championships, as well as the 2004 and 2005 World Championships, riding for the Maple Team. Currently she is part of the professional marathon speed skating team DSB.

Ireen Wüst is a Dutch long track allround speed skater. At the age of 19, 2006, Wüst won the gold medal in the Winter Olympic Games 3000-meter event. She is the youngest Dutch Olympic champion in Winter Games history. Wüst debuted at the 2004 KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships in November 2003, she won the silver medal in the world junior championships in Roseville, Minnesota, USA. With a 3rd place at the 2005 KNSB Dutch Allround Championships she qualified for her first international senior tournamen, the 2005 European Championships in Heerenveen. There she ended 4th and secured herself a sport in the Dutch team for the 2005 World Allround Championships in Moscow, Russia. With a 5th place she made a promising debut at the highest international level. She then became World Junior Champion in Seinäjoki, Finland.

Nicolien Sauerbreij is the Dutch representative in snowboard this year at the Winter Olympycs. Sauerbreij has competed several world cups with more success, achieving several podium positions, including first placings in 2002, 2003, and 2008.