Gerard Pieter Hendrik van Velde (born 30 November 1971) is a Dutch retired speed skater who specialised in sprinting. He won an Olympic gold medal in 2002.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | (1971-11-30) 30 November 1971 (age 50)[1] Wapenveld, Netherlands[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 87 kg (192 lb)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Netherlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Speed skating | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turned pro | 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retired | 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Van Velde was considered the best Dutch sprinter during the early 1990s, but did not manage to win a medal in either the 1992 or 1994 Winter Olympics. The 1992 Games were particularly frustrating, as he missed a bronze medal by only one-hundredth of a second.
During the late 1990s, clap skates became standard in Olympic competition. Van Velde had such difficulty adjusting to the techniques required with these new skates that he retired from skating and became a car salesman. However, he was not finished with the skating world.
Rintje Ritsma, another Dutch skater invited Van Velde to be his training partner, and, during training, he mastered the clap skate techniques. He decided to try out for the 2002 Winter Olympics, in spite of the arrival of a new generation of Dutch sprinters such as Jan Bos, Erben Wennemars and Jakko Jan Leeuwangh. Van Velde became the fourth sprinter to qualify for the games.
In Salt Lake City, he started before all the other favorites and raced to a world record finish with a time of 1:07.18. This time he shaved more than half a second from the previous best world time, and more than a second from his personal best. The skaters who followed were unable to best him, and he won the gold medal.
In December 2005, at the Dutch Olympic trials in Heerenveen, van Velde failed to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. In retirement he became a coach.[1]
Personal records | ||||
Men's speed skating | ||||
Event | Result | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
500 m | 34.59 | 6 February 2003 | Calgary | |
1000 m | 1:07.18 | 16 February 2002 | Salt Lake City | Olympic record |
1500 m | 1:48.53 | 26 September 2004 | Calgary | |
3000 m | 4:02.18 | 30 November 2004 | Calgary |
Source: SpeedskatingResults.com[2]
Event | Result | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1000 m | 1:07.18 | 16 February 2002 | ![]() | World record until 20 November 2005 |
Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com[3]
Season | Dutch Championships Single Distances |
Dutch Championships Sprint |
Olympic Games |
World Championships Single Distances |
World Championships Sprint |
World Cup GWC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989–90 | 16th 500m 17e 1000m | 10th 500m 10th 1000m 6th 500m ![]() 8th overall | ||||
1990–91 | ![]() ![]() 10 th1500m | INZELL 20th 500m 10th 1000m 16th 500m 17th 1000m 15th overall | ||||
1991–92 | ![]() 4th 1000m | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ALBERTVILLE 5th 500m 4th 1000m | OSLO 9th 500m 16th 1000m 6th 500m ![]() 6th overall | ||
1992–93 | ![]() ![]() | ![]() 5th 1000m ![]() 4th 1000m ![]() | IKAHO 18th 500m 9th 1000m 15th 500m 8th 1000m 11th overall | |||
1993–94 | ![]() ![]() 12th 1500m | ![]() ![]() 13th 500m ![]() 13th overall | LILLEHAMMAR 21st 500m 9th 1000m | CALGARY 15h 500m 5th 1000m 17th 500m 33rd 1000m 30th overall | ||
1994–95 | ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | MILWAUKEE 17th 500m 4th 1000m 11th 500m 5th 1000m 10th overall | |||
1995–96 | ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | HAMAR 10th 500m 4th 1000m | HEERENVEEN 36th 500m 4th 1000m 25th 500m 10th 1000m 33rd overall | 13th 500m ![]() | |
1996–97 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | WARSAW 18th 500m 6th 1000m | HAMAR 12th 500m 10th 1000m 13th 500m 8th 1000m 11th overall | 15th 500m 6th 1000m | ||
1997–98 | 4th 500m 7th 1000m | 7th 500m 7th 1000m 7th 500m 10th 1000m 6th overall | CALGARY NS2 500m | 44th 500m 23rd 1000m | ||
1998–99 | ||||||
1999–2000 | ![]() 5th 1000m | ![]() 4th 1000m 4th 500m 4th 1000m ![]() | NAGANO 19th 500m | SEOUL 22nd 500m 19th 1000m 20th 500m 23rd 1000m 21st overall | 32nd 500m 37th 1000m | |
2000–01 | 7th 500m 12th 1000m 19th 1500m | ![]() 5th 1000m ![]() 4th 1000m ![]() | SALT LAKE CITY 11th 500m 5th 500m | INZELL 11th 500m 4th 1000m 9th 500m 5th 1000m 7th overall | 19th 500m 14th 1000m | |
2001–02 | ![]() ![]() 7th 1500m | ![]() ![]() ![]() 4th 1000m ![]() | SALT LAKE CITY 4th 500m ![]() | HAMAR 7th 500m ![]() 5th 500m 5th 1000m 4th overall | 5th 500m 9th 1000m | |
2002–03 | ![]() ![]() 8th 1500m | ![]() 4th 1000m ![]() DNF 1000m NC overall | BERLIN 4th 500m ![]() | CALGARY ![]() 4th 1000m ![]() 4th 1000m ![]() | 4th 500m ![]() | |
2003–04 | ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | SEOUL 8th 500m NF 1000m | NAGANO 7th 500m 6th 1000m ![]() ![]() 4th overall | 27th 100m 7th 500m ![]() | |
2004–05 | ![]() 6th 1000m 14th 1500m | ![]() 4th 1000m ![]() ![]() ![]() | INZELL 10th 500m | SALT LAKE CITY ![]() DNS 1000m DNS 500m DNS 1000m NC overall | 11th 500m ![]() | |
2005–06 | 5th 500m 6th 1000m | ![]() ![]() ![]() 5th 1000m ![]() | HEERENVEEN 9th 500m 10th 1000m 9th 500m 11th 1000m 6th overall | 9th 500m 7th 1000m | ||
2006–07 | 4th 500m 9th 1000m | 4th 500m 6th 1000m ![]() 6th 1000m 4th overall | HAMAR 15h 500m 14th 1000m DNS 500m DNS 1000m NC overall | 15th 500m | ||
2007–08 | 8th 500m 13th 1000m 12th 500m 11th 1000m 10th overall | |||||
2008–09 | 5th 500m 4th 1000m 6th 500m 4th 1000m 6th overall |
Source:[4]
Championship | Gold ![]() | Silver ![]() | Bronze ![]() |
---|---|---|---|
Dutch Single Distances | 12 | 5 | 3 |
Dutch Sprint | 6 | 4 | 1 |
Olympic Games | 1 | 0 | 0 |
World Single Distances | 0 | 1 | 0 |
World Sprint | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Awards | ||
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Preceded by | Ard Schenk Award 2001 |
Succeeded by |
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