I think you yourself don't realise that not everyone in the Netherlands cares about speed skating and the Elfstedentocht.
I'm Dutch. Early twenties. I go roller blading in the summer, and I speed skate in the winter if weather permits.
But the Elfstedentocht? It has never taken place during my life. My friends and I don't care about the Elfstedentocht at all because we've simply never experienced it. We don't get the "Elfstedentochtkoorts" whenever the mercury drops below 0. Not at all.
> deeply embedded in the Dutch national identity, arguably even more than soccer
I bet the average young person from Rotterdam cares a whole lot more about Feyenoord and the Dutch football team than they care about some 200km speed skating contest that very rarely takes place in a province in the north.
You make a good point, and I think I could have phrased that more clearly. I meant that it arguably is more Dutch than soccer is, because soccer is big in every country that isn't the US.
But you're right that I didn't take age into account. I'm in my late thirties, I remember skating on natural ice almost every winter during my childhood. I don't know if you had the same experience.
I think you yourself don't realise that not everyone in the Netherlands cares about speed skating and the Elfstedentocht.
I'm Dutch. Early twenties. I go roller blading in the summer, and I speed skate in the winter if weather permits.
But the Elfstedentocht? It has never taken place during my life. My friends and I don't care about the Elfstedentocht at all because we've simply never experienced it. We don't get the "Elfstedentochtkoorts" whenever the mercury drops below 0. Not at all.
> deeply embedded in the Dutch national identity, arguably even more than soccer
I bet the average young person from Rotterdam cares a whole lot more about Feyenoord and the Dutch football team than they care about some 200km speed skating contest that very rarely takes place in a province in the north.