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Biography
Bart Veldkamp (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɑrt ˈfɛltkɑmp]; born 22 November 1967) is a retired speed skater, who represented the Netherlands and later 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 dissatisfied with the qualifying procedures for tournaments and became a Belgian. In Belgium there was (and still is) no speed skating tradition, so qualifying for tournaments became easy 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 became 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 such 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, listing the years in which he won each medal:
| 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
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.