BEIJING — Two goats walk into a barn.
Well, that’s not quite right. One is a real goat, an adorable white Saanen named Sophie with beady eyes, elfish ears and a gold medal around its neck. The other is Dutch speedskating legend Ireen Wüst, who explains her presence for this three-hour sponsorship photoshoot as such:
“It’s a big company in the Netherlands, and they are in goat milk, and they thought, ‘We want to do something with protein stuff, so we want to have the Greatest of All-Time.’”
There is no punchline, because there is no kidding. Just take a look at any picture that Wüst posts on her Instagram page, where even her fiercest rivals bombard the comment sections with reverential goat emojis. And for good reason: When Wüst set a new Olympic record in the 1,500 meters on Feb. 7, edging out Japan’s Takagi Miho in 1:53.28, the 35-year-old became the first athlete, male or female, to capture gold in five straight Games, summer or winter.
Wüst burst onto the speedskating scene as a teenager at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, winning the 3,000 meters in her first race and later taking bronze in the 1,500. “I remember it felt magical,” she says. “Such a huge event, all these people together—I felt like a kid in a candy shop, everything was so overwhelming. When I see pictures I see a really young child. But on the other hand, I’ve still got the memories in my head, and then it feels like yesterday.”
The memories have only gotten sweeter since then as Wüst has grown into the most decorated athlete for the sport’s most decorated country, earning a baker’s dozen of medals between Torino (two), Vancouver (one), Sochi (five), PyeongChang (three) and now Beijing (two and counting). But the end is near: The 1,000 meters on Thursday will mark Wüst’s last trip around the Olympic oval, having announced her intention to soon hang up her blades for good.
Rob Schumacher/USA TODAY Sports
“It’s not that I’m not good enough anymore,” she says. “But I want to have children. And I’m 35, so one day I have to make a decision and say, ‘O.K., let’s go for the other life.’”
One of an unprecedented number of out LGTBQ competitors at the 2022 Games, Wüst, who identifies as bisexual, inspires for many reasons. In particular she is a mentor to younger teammates like Michelle de Jong and Femke Kok, livening up their shared apartment in the Olympic Village with “party flags” and other decorations, according to Kick Hommes, a journalist at the Dutch newspaper, Trouw. “She knows she’s definitely of a clear mind,” Hommes says. “She’s called this a bonus year, to actually have some more fun knowing this is the last time she’s here.”
Wüst is not the only Dutch star headed for a curtain call: Four-time gold medalist Sven Kramer also plans to retire this season, ensuring the end of an era. "We really grew up in the skating world, and we’re finishing now too,” Kramer says. Their absence will be heard loud—or rather, soft—and clear. “We have the Dutch championships, and when you hear the crowd roaring for Ireen or Sven, it’s quite different than for any other skater,” Hommes says. “Even when they are just warming up the stadium is buzzing, because they’ve dominated for so long.”
But while Kramer has shown his age in Beijing, disappointing with a ninth-place finish in the 5,000 meters—the Netherlands also failed to medal in the men's team pursuit for the first time in his Olympic career, which also began in Torino— Wüst remains at the top of her game. No doubt this is due to a work ethic that started as a 10-year-old, when she saw her father race in the famous outdoor Elfstedentocht and promptly harangued her parents into buying her skates.
Ashley Landis/AP
Asked what she will miss most about speedskating, Wüst replies, “The training, the trying to be better each day, because skating is so technical. I’ve never skated a perfect race yet. It’s like a Formula 1 car. You can push on so many buttons. It’s the same with us. You can cycle more, or do more weights, or eat differently, or skate differently, or change technically. It’s never boring.”
It will also be tough to say goodbye to what Wüst has described as the beautiful complexity of her job, manifest in everything from the metronomic clack-clack of her skates striking the ice to the thrill of whizzing around the track. “Going, what is it, 55 [kilometers] an hour, on such a small blade, that’s like an amazing feeling,” she says. “You feel the wind through your hair, through your hands.” And there’s this: “The feeling of winning is quite addictive too. I will miss that, for sure.”
Natacha Pisarenko/AP
Then again Wüst isn’t interested in some American-style, Kobe-esque farewell tour after the Olympics, where each competition is preceded by a showering of retirement gifts and adulation. “I think it will be some kind of event during the last World Cup, if public is allowed,” she says, describing her ideal final race. “I think that’s it: Just one big bang.” And then onto the next life.
But that time isn’t here yet. First comes the 1,000 meters, and along with it the chance for a seventh gold medal and even more history. The G.O.A.T. plans to milk it for every last drop.
