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+1⁄2 in)
Weight	84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
Country	Netherlands (1989–1995) Belgium (1995–2006)
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)
Medal record Men's speed skating Olympic Games Representing the Netherlands 1992 Albertville 10000 m 1994 Lillehammer 10000 m Representing Belgium 1998 Nagano 5000 m World Championships Representing the Netherlands 1990 Innsbruck Allround 1991 Heerenveen Allround Representing Belgium 1996 Hamar 10000 m 1999 Heerenveen 5000 m 1998 Calgary 5000 m 2001 Budapest Allround European Championships Representing the Netherlands 1990 Heerenveen Allround 1991 Sarajevo Allround Representing Belgium 2001 Baselga di Pinè Allround

Bart Veldkamp (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɑrt ˈfɛltkɑmp]; 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:

Event	Time	Date	Venue
3000 m	3.48,91	20 March 1998	Calgary

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

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

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. His highest ranking ever on the Adelskalender was a 5th place.

References

• DESG
• Bart Veldkamp at SpeedSkatingStats.com
• Personal records from The Skatebase
• 2005/2006 season best performances
• Bart Veldkamp at Speed Skating Hall of Fame

External links

• Bart Veldkamp, official website