Hein Vergeer

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Henricus ("Hein") Coenradus Nicolaas Vergeer (born 2 May 1961 in Haastrecht, the Netherlands) is a Dutch former speed skater who became both European and World Allround Champion in both 1985 (in which year he also became National Sprint Champion) and 1986 (in which year he also became National Allround Champion).

Hein Vergeer was a dominant allround skater, but after having recovered from an injury, he was never able to reach that same level again. Because of this, he was unable to fulfil his wish of winning an Olympic medal – at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Vergeer competed in the 500 m, the 1,000 m, and the 1,500 m, but his best result was a mere fifteenth place. He had also competed in those same three distances at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo four years earlier, but did not do much better then with a tenth place as his best result. Unfortunately for Vergeer, his best years were in between those two Winter Olympics.

Perhaps curious is to notice that, despite his dominance, Vergeer never managed to skate any world records. This could label him as a "true" allround skater – very good at all distances, but never the very best in any single distance.

Vergeer lives in Haastrecht, a town where Leo Visser, another former World Champion speed skating, used to live as well. Both skaters used to train at the skating club STV Lekstreek.

Back in the days of Vergeer's dominance, speed skating was not very lucrative, so Vergeer did what lots of other top-skaters in those days did as well – he used his fame as a stepping stone to a career in marketing and communication. Vergeer currently is an advisor of several ventures and he organises several events.

Both in 2006 and 2007, Vergeer participated in the Holiday on Ice show called Fantasy.

[edit] Medals

An overview of medals won by Vergeer at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:

Championships Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal
Winter Olympics – – –
World Allround 1985
1986		 – –
World Sprint – – –
World Cup – – 1987 (1,500 m)
European Allround 1985
1986		 – 1987
Dutch Allround 1986
1987		 1985 –
Dutch Sprint 1984
1985		 1983
1986		 1988
Dutch Single Distance 1987 (5,000 m) 1987 (1,500 m)
1988 (1,000 m)		 1988 (1,500 m)

[edit] Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the last column (WR) lists the official world records on the dates that Vergeer skated his personal records.

Event Result Date Venue WR
500 m 37.79 14 February 1987 Heerenveen 36.57
1,000 m 1:14.62 18 February 1988 Calgary 1:12.58
1,500 m 1:53.88 21 March 1987 Heerenveen 1:52.70
3,000 m 4:01.21 19 March 1987 Heerenveen 4:03.22
5,000 m 6:54.91 15 February 1986 Inzell 6:49.15
10,000 m 14:39.05 16 February 1986 Inzell 14:21.51
Big combination 161.936 16 February 1986 Inzell 168.248

Note that Vergeer's personal record on the 3,000 m was not a world record because Leo Visser skated 3:59.27 that same day at the same tournament. Also note that when Vergeer set his personal record on the 10,000 m, Geir Karlstad set a new world record of 14:12.14 that same day at the same tournament.

Vergeer has an Adelskalender score of 161.193 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a seventh place. The Adelskalender is an all-time allround speed skating ranking.

[edit] References

Awards
Preceded by
Gaétan Boucher		 Oscar Mathisen Award
1985		 Succeeded by
Geir Karlstad
Preceded by
Joop Zoetemelk		 Dutch Sportsman of the Year
1986		 Succeeded by
Ruud Gullit