Ard Schenk

Ard Schenk

Ard Schenk in 2006
Personal information
Nationality	Dutch
Born	16 September 1944 Anna Paulowna, Netherlands
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	90 kg (198 lb)
Sport
Country	Netherlands
Sport	Speed skating
Turned pro	1973
Retired	1974
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	500 m: 39.8 (1971) 1000 m: 1:20.6 (1968) 1500 m: 2:05.3 (1966) 3000 m: 4:08.3 (1972) 5000 m: 7:09.8 (1972) 10 000 m: 14:55.9 (1971)
Medal record Men's speed skating Competitor for the  Netherlands Olympic Games 1972 Sapporo 1500 m 1972 Sapporo 5000 m 1972 Sapporo 10000 m 1968 Grenoble 1500 m World Championships 1970 Oslo Allround 1971 Gothenburg Allround 1972 Oslo Allround 1966 Gothenburg Allround 1967 Oslo Allround 1965 Oslo Allround 1968 Gothenburg Allround 1971 Inzell Sprint 1972 Eskilstuna Sprint European Championships 1966 Deventer Allround 1970 Innsbruck Allround 1972 Davos Allround 1971 Heerenveen Allround

Adrianus "Ard" Schenk (born 16 September 1944) is a former speed skater from the Netherlands, who is considered to be one of the best in history. His first Olympic success came in 1968, when he won a silver medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics. Between 1970 and 1972 Winter Olympics, Schenk won three consecutive World Allround Speed Skating Championships. He won three gold medals at the 1972 Winter Olympics, becoming, along with Galina Kulakova of Soviet Union, the most successful athlete there.

Biography

Schenk (1965)

Schenk competed in international meets from 1964 on, winning his first medal at the 1965 world championships and his first gold medal at the 1966 European championships. In the late 60s, Schenk was usually bested by his compatriot Kees Verkerk, but in the early 1970s he dominated international speed skating. The winning duo of Ard & Keesie were responsible for a lasting popularity of speed skating in the Netherlands.

Schenk's career peaked in 1972. He won three gold medals during the Olympic Games in Sapporo (a fall on the 500 m precluded gold in all 4 distances). Would the 1000 meters already have been an Olympic distance already, Schenk would have been the favorite for gold, as he had won five of the six 1000 meter races at World Sprint Championship he participated in. The same year, he also won the European Allround and the World Allround Championships. He became World Allround Champion by winning all 4 distances, a feat that nobody had performed since Ivar Ballangrud 40 years earlier, and which only Eric Heiden has repeated since (in 1979). Finally, he won bronze that year at the World Sprint Championships.

The next season (1973), he turned professional with a number of other prominent speed skaters,^[1] thereby foregoing the opportunity of winning more championships. The professional circuit lasted two seasons and Schenk retired from speed skating at the relatively young age of 30.

Championships results

Ard Schenk in 1965

Championships	Gold medal	Silver medal	Bronze medal
Winter Olympics	3	1	0
World Allround Championships	3	2	2
World Sprint Championships	0	0	2
European Allround	3	1	0
Dutch Allround	3	4	1

Records

World records

Schenk was the first to skate the 10000 meters under 15 minutes, and the first skater to finish the 1500 meters in less than 2 minutes. Over the course of his career he broke a total of 18 (senior) world records, a feat no skater before or after him has bettered. Among men, the sprint specialist Jeremy Wotherspoon came closest with his 16th world record in 2007,^[2] while among women long-distance specialist Gunda Niemann equalled Schenk's mark in 2001.^[3] By March 1971, Schenk held 6 of the 7 official world records at the same time, missing only the 500 m.^[4] His 1000 m record was broken in March 1972 by Erhard Keller, but the other five stood until 1975 to 1978, when world records started to be skated at the high-altitude rink of Medeo.

Discipline	Time	Date	Location
1500 m	2:06.2	26 January 1966	Davos
3000 m	4:26.2	29 January 1966	Inzell
1500 m	2:05.3	30 January 1966	Inzell
3000 m	4:18.4	25 February 1967	Inzell
1000 m	1:20.6	28 February 1967	Inzell
1000 m	1:20.6	5 February 1968	Davos
3000 m	4:12.6	15 January 1971	Davos
1500 m	1:58.7	16 January 1971	Davos
Big combination	171.317	31 January 1971	Oslo
10000 m	15:01.6	14 February 1971	Gothenburg
Big combination	171.130	14 February 1971	Gothenburg
1000 m	1:18.8	20 February 1971	Inzell
5000 m	7:12.0	13 March 1971	Inzell
10000 m	14:55.9	14 March 1971	Inzell
Big combination	168.248	14 March 1971	Inzell
3000 m	4:08.3	2 March 1972	Inzell
5000 m	7:09.8	4 March 1972	Inzell
Big combination	167.420	5 March 1972	Inzell

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com^[5]

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the column WR lists the official world records on the dates that Schenk skated his personal records, and, since the world records he broke were often his own, the column AE lists the best times skated by anyone else up to those dates.

Distance	Result	Date	Location	WR	AE
500 m	38.9	15 January 1971	Davos	38.46	38.46
1000 m	1:18.8	20 February 1971	Inzell	1:19.2	1:19.2
1500 m	1:58.7	16 January 1971	Davos	2:01.9	2:01.9
3000 m	4:08.3	2 March 1972	Inzell	4:12.6	4:15.7
5000 m	7:09.8	4 March 1972	Inzell	7:12.0	7.13.2
10000 m	14:55.9	14 March 1971	Inzell	15:01.6	15:03.6
Big combination	167.420	5 March 1972	Inzell	168.248	170.648

Schenk has an Adelskalender score of 166.241 points. He was number one on the Adelskalender from 13 January 1966 until 27 February 1967 and again from 13 February 1971 until 19 March 1976 for a total of 6 years and 58 days. The Adelskalender is an all-time allround speed skating ranking.^[6]

• 

  Schenk (Oslo, 1967)

• 

  Schenk (Grenoble, 1968)

• 

  Schenk (Oslo, 1972)

See also

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games

References

1. Koomen 1973
2. Most world records set by men at SpeedSkatingStats.com
3. Most world records set by women at SpeedSkatingStats.com
4. A sprint combination world record was only introduced in the next season.
5. "Ard Schenk". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
6. http://web.telia.com/~u46130641/adel.htm Adelskalender pages of Evert Stenlund

Bibliography

• Bal, Rien and Van Dijk, Rob. Schaatskampioenen, alles over het seizoen 68-69 (Speedskating Champions, all about the season 68-69) . Amsterdam, the Netherlands: N.V. Het Parool, 1969. (Dutch)
• Eng, Trond. All Time International Championships, Complete Results: 1889 - 2002. Askim, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2002.
• Froger, Fred R. Topsporters: Ard Schenk * Kees Verkerk (Elite Athletes: Ard Schenk * Kees Verkerk). Bussum, the Netherlands: Van Holkema & Warendorf, 1967. (Dutch)
• ___________ Winnaars op de schaats (Victors on Skates), Een Parool Sportpocket. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: N.V. Het Parool, 1968. (Dutch)
• Koomen, Theo. 10 Jaar Topschaatsen (10 Years Elite Speedskating). Laren (NH), the Netherlands: Uitgeverij Luitingh, 1971. ISBN 90-245-0114-8. (Dutch)
• _________ Topschaatsen 1972 (Elite Speedskating 1972). Laren (NH), the Netherlands: Uitgeverij Luitingh, 1972. ISBN 90-245-0152-0. (Dutch)
• _________ Topschaatsen 3 (Elite Speedskating 3). Laren (NH), the Netherlands: Uitgeverij Luitingh, 1973. ISBN 90-245-0194-6. (Dutch)
• Maaskant, Piet. Flitsende Ijzers, De geschiedenis van de schaatssport (Flashing Blades, the History of Dutch Speedskating). Zwolle, the Netherlands: La Rivière & Voorhoeve, 1967 (Second revised and expanded edition). (Dutch)
• _________ Heya, Heya! Het nieuwe boek van de Schaatssport (Heya, Heya! The New book of Dutch Speedskating). Zwolle, the Netherlands: La Rivière & Voorhoeve, 1970. (Dutch)
• Peereboom, Klaas. Van Jaap Eden tot Ard Schenk (From Jaap Eden till Ard Schenk). Baarn, the Netherlands: De Boekerij, 1972. ISBN 90-225-0346-1. (Dutch)
• Schenk, Ard and Racké, Fred. Ard Apart, mijn groei naar de top (Ard on his own, his growth to the Top). Alkmaar, the Netherlands: Verenigde Noordhollandse Dagbladen, 1971. (Dutch)
• Teigen, Magne. Komplette Resultater Internasjonale Mesterskap 1889 - 1989: Menn/Kvinner, Senior/Junior, allround/sprint. Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1989. (Norwegian)
• Van Eyle, Wim. Een Eeuw Nederlandse Schaatssport (A Century of Dutch Speedskating). Utrecht, the Netherlands: Uitgeverij Het Spectrum, 1982. ISBN 90-274-9476-2. (Dutch)
• Witkamp, Anton and Koning, Dolf (eds.). Schaatsgoud '72 (Speedskating Gold '72). Bussum, the Netherlands: Teleboek NV, 1972. ISBN 90-6122-204-4. (Dutch)

External links

• Ard Schenk at SpeedSkatingStats.com
• Ard Schenk bio at Speed Skating Hall of Fame
• Ard Schenk at DESG.de (German)
• Short biography from Evert Stenlund's Adelskalender pages