Rintje Ritsma

Rintje Ritsma

Rintje Ritsma in 2006
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Beer van Lemmer
Born	(1970-04-13) April 13, 1970 Lemmer, Netherlands
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	93 kg (205 lb; 14.6 st)
Website	www.rintjeritsma.nl
Sport
Country	Netherlands
Sport	Speed skating
Turned pro	1988
Retired	2008
Medal record Men's speed skating Olympic Games Silver 1994 Lillehammer 1,500 m Silver 1998 Nagano 5,000 m Bronze 1994 Lillehammer 5,000 m Bronze 1998 Nagano 1,500 m Bronze 1998 Nagano 10,000m Bronze 2006 Turin Team pursuit World Championships Gold 1997 Warsaw 1,500 m Gold 1997 Warsaw 5,000 m Gold 1995 Baselga di Pinè allround Gold 1996 Inzell allround Gold 1999 Hamar allround Gold 2001 Budapest allround Silver 1998 Calgary 5,000 m Silver 1997 Warsaw 10,000m Silver 1998 Heerenveen allround Silver 2003 Gothenburg allround Bronze 1999 Heerenveen 1,500 m Bronze 1993 Hamar allround Bronze 1994 Gothenburg allround Bronze 2000 Milwaukee allround European Championships Gold 1994 Hamar allround Gold 1995 Heerenveen allround Gold 1996 Heerenveen allround Gold 1998 Helsinki allround Gold 1999 Heerenveen allround Gold 2000 Hamar allround Silver 1997 Heerenveen allround Silver 2003 Heerenveen allround Bronze 1992 Heerenveen allround Bronze 1993 Heerenveen allround

Robert Rintje Ritsma (born April 13, 1970 in Lemmer)^[1] 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.

Speed skating career

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).

Records

World records

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

Distance	Time	Date	Location
1500 m	1:51.60	January 8, 1994	Hamar
Big combination	156.201	January 9, 1994	Hamar
1500 m	1:48.88	December 20, 1997	Heerenveen
Big combination	152.651	February 7, 1999	Hamar

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com^[2]

Personal records

Personal records
Men's speed skating
Distance	Time	Date	Location	Notes
500 m	35.90	February 20, 1999	Hamar
1,000 m	1:10.19	February 20, 1999	Hamar
1,500 m	1:45.86	February 19, 2002	Hamar
3,000 m	3:49.29	March 11, 2004	Heerenveen
5,000 m	6:20.26	November 19, 2005	Salt Lake City
10,000 m	13:28.19	February 17, 1998	Hamar

Source: SpeedskatingResults.com^[3]

Ritsma at the 2003 Dutch Championships in Eindhoven

Medals

Championship
Dutch Distances	11	5	3
Dutch Allround	2	4	3
Dutch Allround (distances)	7	12	7
European Allround	6	2	2
European Allround (distances)	12	8	8
Winter Olympics	0	2	4
World Cup	6	0	4
World Cup (distance)	29	20	14
World Single Distance	2	2	1
World Allround	4	2	3
World Allround (distance)	3	8	6
World Junior Allround	0	1	0
World Junior Allround (distance)	0	2	0
Total	82	68	55

Source: SchaatsStatistieken.nl^[4]

References

• Photos of Rintje Ritsma
• Rintje Ritsma at SpeedSkatingStats.com

Awards
Preceded by Ådne Søndrål	Oscar Mathisen Award 1999	Succeeded by Gianni Romme
Preceded by Falko Zandstra	Ard Schenk Award 1994	Succeeded by Annamarie Thomas
Preceded by Annamarie Thomas	Ard Schenk Award 1996	Succeeded by Ids Postma
Preceded by Marianne Timmer	Ard Schenk Award 1999	Succeeded by Gianni Romme