Jan Smeekens (born 11 February 1987) 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. ...

. He is a 500 m specialist. Smeekens won his first international medal during the 2004 World Junior Single Distance Championships in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

where he won the gold medal at the 500 m. 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. ...

on 28 October 2005 he made his début among the senior skaters in his country, resulting in claiming a World Cup spot for races in

Collalbo Ritten (; it, Renon ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy. Territory The community is named after the high plateau, elevation , the Ritten or the Renon, on which most of the villages are located. The plateau forms t ...

and Baselga di Pinè. In the A-group of these World Cup meetings he finished in 6th and 7th position. On 7 January 2006, later during the 2005–06 season he also made his début at the

2006 KNSB Dutch Sprint Championships 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. At these championships he won the second race over 500 m. In February 2006 Smeekens signed a professional contract with the TVM Speed skating team. His first success in his new team was winning a silver medal on the 500 m 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 ...

. He won the first race beating all the favourites, while finishing second behind

Jan Bos Jan Bos (born 29 March 1975) is a Dutch former speedskater and sprint cyclist. In the late 1990s he was world champion in speed skating and he competed in the 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics. Speed skater In 1998 Bos both became the w ...

in the final race. Bos claimed and defended his title. In 2006 Smeekens became the Dutch junior record holder in the 500 m with a personal best of 35.16, which he achieved during the 2006 speed skating finals in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. 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 Gretz ...

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 ...

, Smeekens finished sixth in the 500 m race. He won Silver in the Men's 500 metres Speed Skating event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia; he had thought he won gold in that event, but his time was adjusted. At the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

, Smeekens finished tenth in the 500 m race.

Records

Personal records

Source: SpeedskatingResults.com

World records

Tournament overview

Source: * DNF = Did not finish * DNS = Did not start * NC = No classification

World Cup

Source:

Medals won

References

1987 births Dutch male speed skaters Speed skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic speed skaters of the Netherlands People from Raalte Living people Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in speed skating Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from Overijssel {{Netherlands-speed-skating-bio-stub