Annette Albertine Gerritsen (born 11 October 1985) is a Dutch former

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

. She specialised in the 500 m and 1000 m distances, and won a silver medal in the

1000 metres The 1000 metres is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. The 1000 yards, an imperial alternative, was sometimes also contested. All-time top 25 *h = hand timed *i = indoor performance *A = affected by ...

at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. She is the current Dutch junior record holder in the 500 m (38.57) and her personal best (1.16.14) used to be the world junior record. She also holds the world junior record with her Dutch teammates in the team pursuit (3.12.37).

Skating career

Gerritsen's breakthrough came during the 2004–05 speed skating season when she won the bronze medal in the 500 m at the 2005 KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships. She won another bronze medal that same year at the 2005 KNSB Dutch Sprint Championships and qualified for the 2005 ISU World Sprint Championships where she finished in 17th position.

2005–06 season

The year after, at the

2006 KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships The 2006 KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships took place in Heerenveen at the Thialf ice rink on 27–30 December 2005. Although this tournament was held in 2005 it was the 2006 edition as it was part of the 2005–2006 speed skating season. ...

she improved her bronze 500 m medal to a silver and was also able to win a bronze medal in the 1000 m. She then successfully defended her bronze medal at the 2006 KNSB Dutch Sprint Championships and also managed to qualify for both the 2006 ISU World Sprint Championships and the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

. While her Sprint Championships were successful when she finished in 6th position her Olympics were disappointing. Gerritsen qualified in two distances. She finished 12th in the 500 m and 23rd in the 1000 m.

2006–07 season

In the 2006–07 pre-season Gerritsen showed her potential to become the fastest Dutch sprint speed skater when beating teammate Marianne Timmer several times. However at the

2007 KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships The 2007 KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships took place in Assen at De Smelt ice rink on 3–5 November 2006. Although this tournament was held in 2006 it was the 2006 edition as it was part of the 2006–2007 speed skating season. Schedu ...

she was unable to keep her pre-season form and only finished in third position behind the surprising

Margot Boer Margot Madelaine Boer (born 7 August 1985) is a Dutch former speed skater. She specialised in the 500, 1000 and 1500 m. Sports career After spending a few years at local teams in the South Holland area, Boer was seen as one of the Netherlands m ...

and Timmer. Her performances gave her the opportunity to participate in the 2007 World Sprint Championships, where she finished 7th overall, with a 4th place in the second 1000 m race. On 28 January, Gerritsen won her first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

event, a 500 m in

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...

, although only after favorite

Jenny Wolf Jenny Wolf (born 31 January 1979) is a former German speed skater. On 10 March 2007 at the ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah, she broke the world record for the women's 500 m in her second race. ...

fell after 50 m. Her victory guaranteed her a spot in the 500 m at the 2007 World Single Distance Championship, to be held in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

on 10 March. Gerritsen used to date multiple Olympic speed skating medallist Sven Kramer.

2010 Olympics

Gerritsen won silver in the 1000 m at the

with a time of 1.16.58, only a fiftieth of a second behind gold medallist

Christine Nesbitt Christine Nesbitt (born 17 May 1985) is a Canadian retired long track speed skater who currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. She won the gold medal in the 1000 metres event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. She had previously ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Personal bests

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerritsen, Annette 1985 births Dutch female speed skaters Olympic speed skaters of the Netherlands Speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic medalists in speed skating Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics People from Waterland Living people World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships medalists World Sprint Speed Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from North Holland 21st-century Dutch women