Koen Verweij

Koen Verweij

Koen Verweij (EC Allround 2009)
Personal information
Born	(1990-08-26) 26 August 1990 (age 26) Alkmaar, Netherlands
Sport
Country	Netherlands
Sport	Speed skating
Turned pro	2007
Medal record Men's speed skating Representing the  Netherlands Olympic Games 2014 Sochi Team pursuit 2014 Sochi 1500 m World Allround Championships 2014 Heerenveen Allround 2012 Moscow Allround World Championships 2012 Heerenveen Team pursuit 2013 Sochi Team pursuit 2015 Heerenveen Team pursuit 2011 Inzell Team pursuit 2015 Heerenveen 1500 m European Championships 2014 Hamar Allround 2015 Chelyabinsk Allround 2011 Collalbo Allround

Koen Verweij (born 26 August 1990) is a Dutch speedskater and inline speed skater. At the end of the skating season 2008–09 he made a transfer from the Jong Oranje team of the national skating union (KNSB) to the commercial team of TVM.

Verweij is the current holder of the Dutch record on the 1500 metres distance.

On 30 December 2007 he skated his first 10 km race at the Dutch all-round championships at the Kardinge ice track in Groningen. He finished the tournament in a fifth position which resulted in qualification as first reserve skater for the European all-round championship in Kolomna. This was a remarkable accomplishment, because he was a junior at that moment, and posted faster times than Sven Kramer did at the same age.

Later in the same season he participated in the world junior championships in Changchun. He won the silver medal just behind his teammate Jan Blokhuijsen and in front of his other teammate Berden de Vries. It was the first time since 1997 that all medals were captured by skaters from the same country.

At the Dutch all-round championships 2009, Verweij finished 4th, partly due to his strong improvement of his 10 km personal record, and qualified for the European all-round championships. Despite a fall on the 500 m he managed to finish the tournament in 12th position. His season was crowned with a victory on the World Junior Skating championships where he won the 3000 m, the 5000 m, the all-round title, and the team pursuit. Because of these outstanding results he won the Egbert van't Oever Aanmoediging award for the best young Dutch skater.

At the 2014 Olympics Games Verweij finished 2nd in the 1500m event, after finishing only 0.003 seconds behind Zbigniew Bródka.

On July 14th 2015 he announced leaving Team Corendon after only one season.

As of 10 November 2013, Verweij is at the 6th position in the adelskalender.

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com