MILAN, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Dutch speed skater Suzanne Schulting is content with the conditions in Milan and ready for whatever the ice may bring once racing begins later this week at the Winter Games, she said on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old Olympic champion, set to compete in both short track and long track events at the Milano Cortina Games, said she was satisfied with the venue despite acknowledging its quirky exterior.
"From the outside the hall does look a bit ugly," Schulting said.
"But that was also the case for the short track venue in Beijing four years ago. What happens on the ice is all that matters. Nobody really cares what the outside looks like."
The versatile skater said the Milano Speed Skating Stadium's plain exterior does not influence how athletes feel once they step inside.
"The ice feels nice. For an exhibition hall, the venue looks amazing. They have done a great job. I do not have any negative things to say about it," she said, adding that the Olympic atmosphere was already building: "As soon as you get to the rink and see the Olympic rings you start to feel it."
Schulting became the first Dutch athlete to win Olympic short track gold at Pyeongchang 2018 and defended her title in Beijing. She said her years navigating the unpredictable world of short track have prepared her for anything.
"From all my years in short track I have learned that the ice can change. You have to work with the conditions as they come, so it does not really matter to me. It could be completely different next week," she said.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Milan;Editing by Toby Davis)
