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.
Biography 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. Particularly frustrating were the 1992 Games, where he missed a bronze medal by 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. His time of 1:07.18 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.
Records Personal records
Source: SpeedskatingResults.com
World records EventResultDateLocationNotes1000 m1:07.1816 February 2002 Salt Lake City World record until 20 November 2005 Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com
Tournament overview 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 1000m 8th overall 1990–91 500m 1000m 10 th1500m 20th 500m 10th 1000m 16th 500m 17th 1000m 15th overall 1991–92 500m 4th 1000m 500m 1000m 500m 1000m overall 5th 500m 4th 1000m 9th 500m 16th 1000m 6th 500m 1000m 6th overall 1992–93 500m 1000m 500m 5th 1000m 500m 4th 1000m overall 18th 500m 9th 1000m 15th 500m 8th 1000m 11th overall 1993–94 500m 1000m 12th 1500m 500m 1000m 13th 500m 1000m 13th overall 21st 500m 9th 1000m 15h 500m 5th 1000m 17th 500m 33rd 1000m 30th overall 1994–95 500m 1000m 500m 1000m 500m 1000m overall 17th 500m 4th 1000m 11th 500m 5th 1000m 10th overall 1995–96 500m 1000m 500m 1000m 500m 1000m overall 10th 500m 4th 1000m 36th 500m 4th 1000m 25th 500m 10th 1000m 33rd overall 13th 500m 1000m 1996–97 500m 1000m 500m 1000m overall 18th 500m 6th 1000m 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 NS2 500m 44th 500m 23rd 1000m 1998–99 1999–2000 500m 5th 1000m 500m 4th 1000m 4th 500m 4th 1000m overall 19th 500m 22nd 500m 19th 1000m 20th 500m 23rd 1000m 21st overall 32nd 500m 37th 1000m 2000–01 7th 500m 12th 1000m 19th 1500m 500m 5th 1000m 500m 4th 1000m overall 11th 500m 5th 500m 11th 500m 4th 1000m 9th 500m 5th 1000m 7th overall 19th 500m 14th 1000m 2001–02 500m 1000m 7th 1500m 500m 1000m 500m 4th 1000m overall 4th 500m 1000m 7th 500m 1000m 5th 500m 5th 1000m 4th overall 5th 500m 9th 1000m 2002–03 500m 1000m 8th 1500m 500m 4th 1000m 500m DNF 1000m NC overall 4th 500m 1000m 500m 4th 1000m 500m 4th 1000m overall 4th 500m 1000m 2003–04 500m 1000m 500m 1000m 500m 1000m overall 8th 500m NF 1000m 7th 500m 6th 1000m 500m 1000m 4th overall 27th 100m 7th 500m 1000m 2004–05 500m 6th 1000m 14th 1500m 500m 4th 1000m 500m 1000m overall 10th 500m 500m DNS 1000m DNS 500m DNS 1000m NC overall 11th 500m 1000m 2005–06 5th 500m 6th 1000m 500m 1000m 500m 5th 1000m overall 9th 500m 10th 1000m 9th 500m 11th 1000m 6th overall 9th 500m 7th 1000m 2006–07 4th 500m 9th 1000m 4th 500m 6th 1000m 500m 6th 1000m 4th overall 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: DQ = Disqualified DNF = Did not finish DNS = Did not start NC = No classification
Medals won ChampionshipGold Silver Bronze Dutch Single Distances 12 5 3Dutch Sprint 6 4 1Olympic Games 1 0 0World Single Distances 0 1 0World Sprint 0 1 0
References
External links
PB's Gerard van Velde at SpeedskatingBase.eu with link to results International Championships Gerard van Velde at SpeedSkatingStats.com