British speed skaters finance Olympic dream through coffee

British speed skating pair Cornelius Kersten and Ellia Smeding brought the Union Jack back to Olympic ice for the first time in three decades at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. One unique aspect of the pair’s participation in the Winter Olympics was the sale of coffee to help finance the difficult, and often expensive, route to the Winter Olympics.

Both skaters are half Dutch and half British. They both took up skating in the Netherlands, but switched to represent Great Britain, which presented them with greater opportunities for elite competition.

The profile of speed skating in Great Britain is small, so the pair had to get creative to finance their Olympic dream. Smeding told the New York Times, “you reach a point, at a certain age, you don’t want to rely on your families for everything. You want to get your money and pay for your own things.”

It was under those circumstances that the pair founded Brew’22, a small coffee company that has helped finance their journey to the Winter Olympics. On the company’s website, the pair states that the challenge of finding good coffee while on the road was part of the inspiration for their venture.

Kersten told the AFP, “one passion fuels another,” adding, “two hours before a race I would have a coffee as it is the last moment to relax and then the blinkers are on and I am in race mode.

Brew’22 offers limited products, but it does have a unique Olympic quality. The beans come in packaging that matches the color of the Olympic Rings, and under names inspired by the Olympic spirit, such as “The Dreamcatcher,” “The Underdog,” and “The Powerhouse.”

Coffee may not be a hidden super fuel for enhanced performance, but it was a key ingredient in getting British speed skating back to the Winter Olympics.