Plantina congratulates Nicolien Sauerbreij

26 February 2010 - Plantina congratulates snowboarder Nicolien Sauerbreij on her Olympic Gold Medal in the parallel giant slalom in Vancouver. The achievement of Nicolien Sauerbreij is also remarkable for its double historical importance. For the first time in history, the Netherlands has won a medal in an alpine event during the Winter Olympics. In addition, the gold for Nicolien Sauerbreij was the hundredth gold medal won by the Netherlands in Olympic history.

During the most important race of her life, in which she was in competition with the Russian Ekaterina Ilyukhina, Nicolien Sauerbreij proved to have nerves of steel and tremendous powers of concentration. In the first final run, the two snowboarders descended Cypress Mountain in a neck-and-neck race, in which Nicolien Sauerbreij crossed the finishing line two-hundredths of a second behind her Russian component. In the second and decisive run, it seemed rather that Nicolien Sauerbreij had started with a lead: right at the start, Ekaterina Ilyukhina made a number of minor errors, allowing Sauerbreij to gain several metres of ground, which she never relinquished for the rest of the race.

During her third Winter Olympic Games, Nicolien Sauerbreij definitively settled the score for her earlier disappointing Olympic experiences. For years, Sauerbreij has been working intensively towards what is undoubtedly the crown on her elite sport career. On a misty, rainy afternoon in Vancouver – typically Dutch weather conditions – she performed beyond her wildest expectations.