The Netherlands excels internationally in several sports beyond football. Schaatsen (ice skating) has a passionate following — the Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour, a 200km skating race through Friesland on natural ice) is a legendary event that occurs rarely when all canals freeze. Schaatsvocabulaire: de schaatsen (ice skates), de ijsbaan (ice rink), de snelschaatser (speed skater), het short track (short track speed skating), de marathon (skating marathon). Dutch speed skaters have won dozens of Olympic medals.
Hockey vocabulary: het hockey (field hockey — not ice hockey unless specified as ijshockey), de hockeystick (hockey stick), het veld (pitch), de keeper (goalkeeper), het toernooi (tournament), de KNHB (Royal Dutch Hockey Association). The Netherlands is the most successful nation in international field hockey — both men’s and women’s teams have multiple World Cup and Olympic titles. Hockey is popular among middle and upper-middle class youth and is often played at local hockeyclubs.
Water sports vocabulary: het zeilen (sailing), het roeien (rowing), het kanovaren (canoeing), het surfen (surfing — on the North Sea coast), het kitesurfen (kitesurfing — very popular at Zandvoort and Scheveningen), het windsurfen (windsurfing), de roeiboot (rowing boat), de zeilboot (sailing boat), de kano (canoe/kayak). The Netherlands also has strong traditions in wielrennen (road cycling) — Dutch professional cyclists compete in the Tour de France, Vuelta, and Giro, and Dutch cycling culture has produced world champions like Marianne Vos.