Atje Keulen-Deelstra

Atje Keulen-Deelstra

Personal information
Born	December 31, 1938 (1938-12-31) Grouw, Netherlands
Sport
Country	Netherlands
Medal record Women's speed skating Competitor for Netherlands Olympic Games Silver 1972 Sapporo 1,000 m Bronze 1972 Sapporo 1,500 m Bronze 1972 Sapporo 3,000 m World Allround Championships Gold 1970 West-Allis Allround Gold 1972 Heerenveen Allround Gold 1973 Strömsund Allround Gold 1974 Heerenveen Allround World Sprint Championships Bronze 1970 West-Allis Sprint Silver 1973 Oslo Sprint Silver 1974 Innsbruck Sprint European Championships Gold 1972 Inzell Allround Gold 1973 Brandbu Allround Gold 1974 Alma-Ata Allround Dutch Allround championships Gold 1970 Allround Gold 1972 Allround Gold 1973 Allround Gold 1974 Allround Silver 1971 Allround Dutch Marathon Championships Gold 1975 Artificial Ice Gold 1976 Artificial Ice Gold 1977 Artificial Ice Gold 1978 Artificial Ice Gold 1980 Artificial Ice

Atje Keulen-Deelstra (born 31 December 1938) is a former speed skater. Keulen-Deelstra was born in Grouw, the Netherlands. When she was 16 years old, Deelstra already won a junior title of Friesland. She practised many sports during those days, but speed skating was her favourite and she won many cash prizes in the Netherlands that way. When she married Jelle Keulen in 1962 and subsequently had three children between 1963 and 1966, her speed skating career seemed to be over.

However, when the Thialf arena opened in 1967 in Heerenveen, Keulen-Deelstra went there to work on a comeback. She quickly made much progress, but she was told over and over again that she was too old. Not a member of the Dutch speed skating team, she won the Dutch Allround Championships in 1970 at the age of 32, beating reputable Dutch skaters such as Stien Kaiser and Ans Schut. That same year, she became World Allround Champion. More successes soon followed when in 1972, she became Dutch, European, and World Allround Champion, a feat she then repeated the following two years (1973 and 1974). In addition, at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, she won one silver and two bronze medals.

In 1975, Keulen-Deelstra switched to marathon skating and she became Dutch Champion in that discipline fifth times; her last Dutch Marathon Championships title being in 1980 when she was 42 years old. In 1997, just a few weeks after having been injured in a traffic accident, Keulen-Deelstra participated in the Elfstedentocht.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, her daughter Boukje Keulen (born 2 December 1963) also was a successful skater. Boukje went from short track through long track ("regular") to marathon speed skating, just like many other speed skaters.

Medals

An overview of medals won by Keulen-Deelstra at important championships she participated in, listing the years in which she won each:

Championships	Gold medal	Silver medal	Bronze medal
Winter Olympics		1972 (1,000 m)	1972 (1,500 m) 1972 (3,000 m)
World Allround	1970 1972 1973 1974
World Sprint		1973 1974	1970
European Allround	1972 1973 1974
Dutch Allround	1970 1972 1973 1974	1971

World records

Over the course of her career, Keulen-Deelstra skated 2 world records:

Distance	Result	Date	Location
1,500 m	2:17.2	14 March 1970	Inzell
Mini combination	182.805	16 January 1972	Inzell

Awards
Preceded by Maria Gommers	Dutch Sportswoman of the Year 1970	Succeeded by Willy Stahle

References

Bibliography

• Bijlsma, Hedman with Tom Dekkers; Alex Dumas; Gé du Maine and Karel Verbeek. Schaatsseizoen '72-'73, deel 1: heren. Leusden, the Netherlands, September 1973.
• Bijlsma, Hedman with Tom Dekkers; Alex Dumas; Gé du Maine and Karel Verbeek. Schaatsseizoen '72-'73, deel 2: dames. Leusden, the Netherlands, November 1973.
• Bijlsma, Hedman with Tom Dekkers; Alex Dumas; Gé du Maine; Hans Niezen and Karel Verbeek. Schaatsseizoen '73-'74: Statistische terugblik. Leusden, the Netherlands, November 1974.
• Bijlsma, Hedman with Tom Dekkers; Arie van Erk; Gé du Maine; Hans Niezen; Nol Terwindt and Karel Verbeek. Schaatsseizoen '96-'97: 25e Jaargang 1996-1997, statistische terugblik. Assen, the Netherlands: Stichting Schaatsseizoen, 1997. ISSN 0922-9582.
• Eng, Trond. All Time International Championships, Complete Results: 1889 - 2002. Askim, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2002.
• Fan der Fear, Ypk. Us Atsje (Frisian). Buitenpost, Friesland, Netherlands: Uitgeverij Alternatyf, 1974.
• Koomen, Theo. 10 Jaar Topschaatsen. Laren(NH), Netherlands: Uitgeverij Luitingh, 1971. ISBN 90-245-0114-8.
• Koomen, Theo. Topschaatsen 1972. Laren(NH), Netherlands: Uitgeverij Luitingh, 1972. ISBN 90-245-0152-0.
• Koomen, Theo. Topschaatsen 3. Laren(NH), Netherlands: Uitgeverij Luitingh, 1973. ISBN 90-245-0194-6.
• Kleine, Jan. Schaatsjaarboek 1968/69, alles over het hardrijden op de lange baan. Amsterdam, Netherlands, Drukkerij Dico, 1968.
• Kleine, Jan. Schaatsjaarboek 1969-'70, alles over het hardrijden op de lange baan. Ede, Netherlands, 1969.
• Kleine, Jan. Schaatsjaarboek 1970-'71, alles over het hardrijden op de lange baan. Nijmegen, Netherlands, Schaatsjaarboek, 1970.
• Kleine, Jan. Schaatsjaarboek 1971-'72, alles over het hardrijden op de lange baan. Nijmegen, Netherlands, Schaatsjaarboek, 1971.
• Kleine, Jan. Schaatsjaarboek 1972-'73, alles over het hardrijden op de lange baan. Nijmegen, Netherlands, Schaatsjaarboek, 1972.
• Maaskant, Piet. Atje Keulen-Deelstra vertelt exclusief haar story. Zwolle, Netherlands: La Rivière & Voorhoeve, 1970.
• Maaskant, Piet. Heya, Heya! Het nieuwe boek van de Schaatssport. Zwolle, Netherlands: La Rivière & Voorhoeve, 1970.
• Peereboom, Klaas. Van Jaap Eden tot Ard Schenk. Baarn, Netherlands: De Boekerij, 1972. ISBN 90-225-0346-1.
• Teigen, Magne. Komplette Resultater Internasjonale Mesterskap 1889 - 1989: Menn/Kvinner, Senior/Junior, allround/sprint. Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1989. (Noors)
• Van Eyle, Wim. Een Eeuw Nederlandse Schaatssport. Utrecht, Netherlands: Uitgeverij Het Spectrum, 1982. ISBN 90-274-9476-2.
• Witkamp, Anton and Koning, Dolf (red.). Schaatsgoud '72. Bussum, Netherlands: Teleboek NV, 1972. ISBN 90-6122-204-4.

External links

• Atje Keulen-Deelstra at SkateResults.com