*** Welcome to piglix ***

Rintje Ritsma

Rintje Ritsma
Rintje Ritsma (2006).jpg
Rintje Ritsma in 2006
Personal information
Nickname(s) Beer van Lemmer
Nationality Dutch
Born (1970-04-13) 13 April 1970 (age 47)
Lemmer, Netherlands
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 93 kg (205 lb)
Website www.rintjeritsma.nl
Sport
Country  Netherlands
Sport Speed skating
Turned pro 1988
Retired 2008
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 500 m: 38.90 (1999)
1000 m: 1:10.19 (1999)
1500 m: 1:45.86 (2002)
3000 m: 3:49.29 (2004)
5000 m: 6:20.26 (2005)
10 000 m: 13:28.19 (1998)
Medal record
Men's speed skating
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1994 Lillehammer 1,500 m
Silver medal – second place 1998 Nagano 5,000 m
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Lillehammer 5,000 m
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Nagano 1,500 m
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Nagano 10,000m
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Turin Team pursuit
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1997 Warsaw 1,500 m
Gold medal – first place 1997 Warsaw 5,000 m
Gold medal – first place 1995 Baselga di Pinè allround
Gold medal – first place 1996 Inzell allround
Gold medal – first place 1999 Hamar allround
Gold medal – first place 2001 Budapest allround
Silver medal – second place 1998 Calgary 5,000 m
Silver medal – second place 1997 Warsaw 10,000m
Silver medal – second place 1998 Heerenveen allround
Silver medal – second place 2003 Gothenburg allround
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Heerenveen 1,500 m
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Hamar allround
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Gothenburg allround
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Milwaukee allround
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1994 Hamar allround
Gold medal – first place 1995 Heerenveen allround
Gold medal – first place 1996 Heerenveen allround
Gold medal – first place 1998 Helsinki allround
Gold medal – first place 1999 Heerenveen allround
Gold medal – first place 2000 Hamar allround
Silver medal – second place 1997 Heerenveen allround
Silver medal – second place 2003 Heerenveen allround
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Heerenveen allround
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Heerenveen allround

Robert Rintje Ritsma (born 13 April 1970) is a former Dutch long track speed skater. His nickname is the Beer van Lemmer, which translates to the Bear from Lemmer, analogous to Igor Zhelezovski's nickname "The Bear from Minsk", both of which are in reference to their imposing physical appearance.

He has won the World Allround Championships 4 times. He won this title in 1995, 1996,1999 and 2001; he was second in 1998 and 2003; he was third in 1993, 1994 and 2000.

He has won the European Allround Championships a record 6 times: 1994-1996 and 1998-2000.

He participated in five Winter Olympics, winning two silver and four bronze medals, from the 1994, 1998 and 2006 Games.

He also stood at the top of the alltime world ranking, the Adelskalender, for a long time (1,125 days in total).

Over the course of his career, Ritsma skated 4 world records:

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

Source: SpeedskatingResults.com

Source: SchaatsStatistieken.nl


...
Wikipedia

...