Bart Veldkamp

Bart Veldkamp

Bart Veldkamp
Personal information
Nationality Belgian
Born (1967-11-22) 22 November 1967
The Hague, Netherlands
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 12 in)
Weight 84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
Country  Netherlands (19891995)
 Belgium (19962006)
Sport Speed skating
Turned pro 1989
Coached by Ad Krook
Hans Veldkamp
Retired 2006
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 500 m: 37.55 (2000)
1000 m: 1:12.80 (2005)
1500 m: 1:49.00 (2001)
3000 m: 3:47.56
2006)
5000 m: 6:23.64 (2001)
10 000 m: 13:27.48 (2002)

Bart Veldkamp (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɑrt ˈfɛltkɑmp];[1] born 22 November 1967) is a retired speed skater, who represented both the Netherlands and Belgium in international competitions, including the Winter Olympics. He currently is the national speed skating coach of Belgium.

Speed skating

In 1990, Bart Veldkamp won the European Allround Championships and came very close to repeating that feat 11 years later in 2001, finishing 2nd. At the 1992 Winter Olympics, he won a gold medal on the 10,000 m. Mainly due to this achievement, Veldkamp was named Dutch Sportsman of the Year in 1992. Before the 1994 Winter Olympics, he was so dissatisfied with the way to qualify for tournaments that he became a Belgian. In Belgium there was (and still is) no speed skating tradition, so qualifying for tournaments became no issue because there were no other speed skaters to compete with.

In Lillehammer at the 1994 Winter Olympics, Veldkamp won a bronze medal on the 10,000 m for the Netherlands. The next Olympic medal he won was as a Belgian at the 1998 Winter Olympics on the 5,000 m, in which he was the first skater ever to break the 6:30 barrier on that distance, but his time was beaten later that same day by former compatriots Rintje Ritsma and Gianni Romme. His bronze medal was the first ever Olympic medal in speed skating for Belgium.

In 1997, Veldkamp participated in the Elfstedentocht. In 2003, he announced that the 2006 Winter Olympics at Turin would be his third Winter Olympics as a Belgian, his fifth overall, and definitely his last. At these 2006 Winter Olympics, Veldkamp finished 13th on the 5,000 m and 14th on the 10,000 m and ended his career afterwards.

Commentary and coaching

After his career Veldkamp became a sports commentator for the NOS to analyze speed skating races. He also appeared on several other TV shows as Peking Express and Wildebeesten.

In the 2006/2007 winter season Veldkamp trained four Kenyan athletes, for the first time ever on ice, for a Dutch TV show. The goal was to let them skate the 200 km long alternative Elfstedentocht at the Weissensee in Austria.

He currently is the national speed skating coach of Belgium.

Medals

An overview of medals won by Veldkamp at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:

Championships Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal
Winter Olympics 1992 (10,000 m) 1994 (10,000 m)
1998 (5,000 m)
World Allround 1990
1991
2001
World Single Distance 1996 (10,000 m)
1999 (5,000 m)
1998 (5,000 m)
European Allround 1990 2001 1991
Dutch Allround 1991
1992
1993
1989
1994
1995
Dutch Single Distance 1991 (5,000 m)
1991 (10,000 m)
1992 (5,000 m)
1992 (10,000 m)
1990 (10,000 m)
1991 (1,500 m)
1993 (10,000 m)
1988 (5,000 m)
1990 (5,000 m)
1993 (5,000 m)
1994 (5,000 m)

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Veldkamp skated two world records:

EventTimeDateVenue
3000 m3.48,9120 March 1998 Calgary

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com[2]

Personal records

Personal records
Men's Speed skating
Event Result Date Location Notes
500 m 37.55 2000-01-15 Hamar
1,000 m 1:12.80 2005-11-20 Salt Lake City
1,500 m 1:49.00 2001-03-04 Calgary
3,000 m 3:47.56 2006-02-05 Turin
5,000 m 6:23.64 2001-03-02 Calgary
10,000 m 13:27.48 2002-02-22 Salt Lake City

Source: SpeedskatingResults.com[3]

By 12 January 2014, Veldkamp was placed 107th with a score of 152.621 points on the Adelskalender, the rankinglist of all-time personal bests.[4] His highest ranking ever on the Adelskalender was a 5th place.

References

  1. Surname in isolation: [ˈvɛltkɑmp].
  2. "Bart Veldkamp". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  3. "Bart Veldkamp". SpeedskatingResults.com. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  4. Adelskalender

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bart Veldkamp.
Records
Preceded by
Jelmer Beulenkamp
Men's 3,000 m speed skating world record
21 March 1998 – 19 March 1999
Succeeded by
Steven Elm
Awards
New award Ard Schenk Award
1990
Succeeded by
Dries van Wijhe
Preceded by
Arnold Vanderlyde
Edwin Jongejans
Dutch Sportsman of the Year
1992
Succeeded by
Falko Zandstra


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