Ants Antson (11 November 1938 – 31 October 2015) was an
Estonian 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. ...
who competed for the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
.
[
]
Biography
Antson trained at the Kalev Voluntary Sports Society. Coached by former World, Olympic, and European Champion Boris Shilkov, Antson had his best year in 1964, when he became European Allround Champion, won the 1500 m event at the 1964 Winter Olympics
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...
in Innsbruck, and set a new world record in the 3000 m. For his achievements that year, he received the Oscar Mathisen Award.[
The two gold medals Antson won in 1964 turned out to be his only international medals, although he did win some national medals at the Soviet Allround Championships – gold in 1967, silver in 1965 and 1968, and bronze in 1966. He participated in the 1500 m at the ]1968 Winter Olympics
The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...
in Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
, but despite skating a new personal record, he finished only twelfth.[
He retired shortly after the 1968 Games and worked as a sports official, first in the Soviet Estonian Committee for Physical Culture and Sports, and later with the Estonian Olympic Committee. At the ]1992 Winter Olympics
)
, nations = 64
, athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women)
, events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines)
, opening = 8 February 1992
, closing = 23 February 1992
, opened_by = President François Mitterrand
, cauldron ...
he became the first flag bearer for Estonia after it became independent from the Soviet Union.[
In 1965, Antson married Estonian film actress Eve Kivi, the couple would divorce in 1972. He later married Ene Antson and the couple remained married until his death; one week and four days before his 77th birthday.
]
Medals
An overview of medals won by Antson at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:[
]
Records
World records
Over the course of his career, Antson skated one world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
:[
Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com][
]
Personal records
To put these personal records in perspective, the ''WR'' column lists the official world records on the dates that Antson skated his personal records.
Source: SpeedskatingResults.com
References
External links
Ants Antson at SpeedSkatingStats.comPersonal records from Jakub Majerski's Speedskating Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antson, Ants
1938 births
2015 deaths
Soviet male speed skaters
Estonian male speed skaters
Olympic speed skaters of the Soviet Union
Speed skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics
Speed skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics
World record setters in speed skating
Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union
Sportspeople from Tallinn
Olympic medalists in speed skating
Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics