Heather Bergsma (''née'' Richardson; born March 20, 1989) is an American 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. ...

who competed between 2006 and 2020.

Career

Bergsma is a native of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. She represented the United States 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 ...

, where she finished 6th in 500 metres, 9th in the 1000 metres, and 16th in the 1500 metres. At the 2011 World Single Distance Championships in

Inzell Inzell is a municipality in the district of Traunstein in Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest ...

, Germany, she won a bronze medal in the 1000 metres. She also placed 8th in the 500 metres, and was part of the team pursuit team that finished in 8th place. On January 26–27, 2013, Bergsma won the gold medal at the 2013 World Sprint Championships 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 ...

, United States. She has since won several world championship medals, and earned numerous podium placings in the

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 ...

. In 2018 she won a bronze medal in pyeongchang. Bergsma is the current world record holder in the 2 x 500 meters and the current American record holder on the 500 metres distance. She held the 1500 metres world record from 2015 to 2019, and also briefly held the 1000 metres world record in November 2015, and the sprint combination world record from 2013 to 2017. She announced her retirement from skating in February 2020.

Personal life

Bergsma married Dutch speed skater and marathon skater

Jorrit Bergsma Jacob Jorrit Bergsma (; born 1 February 1986) is a Dutch speed skater and marathon skater. At the 2014 Winter Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m. His coach is Jillert Anema. Biography Bergsma has been skating for the BAM team si ...

in May 2015, and competed as Heather Richardson-Bergsma the following season.

Speed skating

Records

Personal records

World records

Results timeline

:Note: NC = No classification.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergsma, Heather 1989 births American female speed skaters Sportspeople from High Point, North Carolina Speed skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics Living people Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in speed skating World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships medalists World Sprint Speed Skating Championships medalists 21st-century American women