Mark Tuitert

Mark Tuitert

Mark Tuitert at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver
Personal information
Born	(1980-04-04) 4 April 1980 (age 37) Holten, Netherlands
Website	marktuitert.nl
Sport
Country	Netherlands
Sport	Speed skating
Turned pro	1998
Medal record Men's speed skating Representing the  Netherlands Olympic Games 2010 Vancouver 1500 m 2006 Turin Team pursuit 2010 Vancouver Team pursuit World Championships 2005 Inzell Team pursuit 2004 Seoul 1500 m 2005 Inzell 1500 m European Championships 2004 Heerenveen All round 2003 Heerenveen All round World Junior Championships 1999 Geithus Allround 1998 Roseville Allround

Mark Tuitert (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑrk ˈtœytərt]; born 4 April 1980) is a Dutch speed skater who represented Team Beslist.nl. He won gold at the 1500 m at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Tuitert married fellow Dutch speed skater Helen van Goozen in 2009. Ten years earlier, they both won gold medals at the World Junior Speed Skating Championships.

Besides being passionate about sports, Tuitert is an avid hard rock and grunge fan. He also told Dutch webzine Lords of Metal that he was "sold" after running into Metallica and Rage Against The Machine.

Tuitert participated in the team pursuit event at the 2006 Winter Olympics, with teammates Sven Kramer, Carl Verheijen, Erben Wennemars and Rintje Ritsma. The Dutch team was a favourite and was leading Italy by nearly a full second in their semifinal matchup, but Sven Kramer stepped on a block and fell, taking Carl Verheijen with him. In the race for bronze they defeated Norway, giving Tuitert his first Olympic medal.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia he won the gold medal in the 1500 m. In the 17th pair against Håvard Bøkko he set a new track record time (1:45.57), which had been in the hands of Shani Davis (1:46.19). In the last race Davis could not beat Tuitert's time and finished second.