Arend Dirk Glas (29 October 1968) is a Dutch

bobsledder Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

who has competed between 1992 and 2006.

Career

Glas began his career in bobsledding in 1992 in Igls,

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Competing in two

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

, he achieved his best finishing position of 16th both in the two-man event at

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and in the four-man event at

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. At the

IBSF World Championships IBSF World Championship may refer to: *IBSF World Snooker Championship *IBSF World Championships (bobsleigh and skeleton) The IBSF World Championships (known as the FIBT World Championships until 2015), part of the International Bobsleigh and Sk ...

, Glas earned his best finish position of 12th in the two-man event at

St. Moritz St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in ...

in the

FIBT World Championships 2001 The FIBT World Championships 2001 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland (Men's bobsleigh) and Calgary, Alberta, Canada (Women's bobsleigh, and men's and women's Skeleton). The Swiss city had hosted the event for the record twentieth time, doing so ...

. His best results in four-man were 4th in the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alp ...

in 2001, and 5th in the overall world ranking of the 2001-2002 season. Glas retired after 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 t ...

Personal life

Glas holds a ''

doctorandus Doctorandus (drs., ; ) is a Dutch academic title according to the pre-Bachelor–Master system. The female form is doctoranda (dra., though this abbreviation is no longer used). The title is acquired by passing the ''doctoraalexamen'', the exam wh ...

'' degree in

business economics Business economics is a field in applied economics which uses economic theory and quantitative methods to analyze business enterprises and the factors contributing to the diversity of organizational structures and the relationships of firms with ...

and is the manager of Bobsleigh Support & Bobstart. On 13 October 2019, Glas's partner, Bea Hekhuis, died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

Controversy

During his 2002 Olympic qualification, Glas gained media attention when a 1998 accusation by

anti-fascist research group Kafka Anti-fascist research group Kafka is a Dutch Anti-fascism, anti-fascist and Far-left politics, far-left research group. Its name is originally an acronym for ''Kollektief Anti-Fascistisch/-Kapitalistisch Archief'' ( en, Collective Anti-Fascist/Anti ...

resurfaced of his alleged membership of the

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

Centre Party '86 The Centre Party '86, (Dutch: ''Centrumpartij '86''; abbr. CP’86) briefly known as the National People's Party/CP'86 (Dutch:''Nationale Volkspartij/CP’86'') was a Dutch far-right political party which existed between 1986 and 1998. The party ...

. Faced with public scrutiny, Glas distanced himself from right-wing extremism. In the run-up to the

2021 Dutch general election General elections were held in the Netherlands from 15 to 17 March 2021 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives. Following the elections and lengthy coalition formation talks, the sitting government remained in power. The elect ...

, however, he expressed support for the far-right

Forum for Democracy Forum for Democracy ( nl, Forum voor Democratie, FvD) is a right-wing populist Eurosceptic political party in the Netherlands that was founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2016. The party first participated in elections i ...

following a scuffle with

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

counter-protesters at a campaign rally in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

References

1968 births Living people Bobsledders at the 2002 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Dutch male bobsledders Olympic bobsledders of the Netherlands People from Skarsterlân Sportspeople from Friesland 21st-century Dutch people 20th-century Dutch people {{Netherlands-bobsleigh-bio-stub