Rintje Ritsma

Rintje Ritsma

Rintje Ritsma in 2006
Personal information
Nationality	Dutch
Born	(1970-04-13) 13 April 1970 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 1994 Lillehammer 1,500 m 1998 Nagano 5,000 m 1994 Lillehammer 5,000 m 1998 Nagano 1,500 m 1998 Nagano 10,000m 2006 Turin Team pursuit World Championships 1997 Warsaw 1,500 m 1997 Warsaw 5,000 m 1995 Baselga di Pinè allround 1996 Inzell allround 1999 Hamar allround 2001 Budapest allround 1998 Calgary 5,000 m 1997 Warsaw 10,000m 1998 Heerenveen allround 2003 Gothenburg allround 1999 Heerenveen 1,500 m 1993 Hamar allround 1994 Gothenburg allround 2000 Milwaukee allround European Championships 1994 Hamar allround 1995 Heerenveen allround 1996 Heerenveen allround 1998 Helsinki allround 1999 Heerenveen allround 2000 Hamar allround 1997 Heerenveen allround 2003 Heerenveen allround 1992 Heerenveen allround 1993 Heerenveen allround

Robert Rintje Ritsma (born 13 April 1970)^[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:

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com^[2]

Personal records

Source: SpeedskatingResults.com^[3]

Ritsma at the 2003 Dutch Championships in Eindhoven

Medals

Championship	01 !	02 !	03 !
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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rintje Ritsma.

• 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