Kristina Nicole Groves (born December 4, 1976) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired

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 is Canada's most decorated skater in the World Single Distances Championships with 13 career medals in this event.http://vancouver.sportingnews.com/wolympics/athlete.asp?type=&country=CAN&page=SS&id=530688 She won four Olympic medals: she won two silver medals at 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 ...

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 ...

, in the 1,500 meters and team pursuit, and she won the silver medal in the 1500 m event and the bronze medal in the 3000 m event at the

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 ...

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 ...

. As of 2012, she was ranked sixth on the women's Adelskalender, her teammates Cindy Klassen and

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 ...

were ranked first and seventh respectively.

Career

Groves made her

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

debut in

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 ...

for the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

held in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She finished 20th at 1500 m, 8th at 3000 m and 10th at 5000 m. Four years later, during the

games held in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, Groves participated in five events (1000 m, 1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m, team pursuit). She finished 5th at 1000 m, 2nd at the 1500 m, 8th at the 3000 m, 6th at the 5000 m, and 2nd in the team pursuit with the Canadian team. She was the 2008 Single Distances World Champion on the 3000-m. She won a medal in every event that she skated at these championships, as she also won an additional 2 silver medals and 2 bronze medals. During the 2008–2009 world cup season, Groves won 12 medals including four gold. During the 2009 World Single Distances Championships held at the new

Richmond Olympic Oval The Richmond Olympic Oval (french: Anneau olympique de Richmond) is an indoor multi-sports arena in the Canadian city of Richmond, British Columbia. The oval was built for the 2010 Winter Olympics and was originally configured with a speed skati ...

, near

Vancouver, British Columbia 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 ...

, Canada, her career took an amazing turn when Groves became the most decorated speed skating athlete in the country at this event, surpassing the well-known

Jeremy Wotherspoon Jeremy Lee Wotherspoon (born October 26, 1976) is a Canadian speed skater, widely recognized as one of the greatest speedskating sprinters of all time. In December 2003, Wotherspoon became the most successful male skater in World Cup history whe ...

with 13 medals, compared to his 10. She is also the world cup winner for a second year in a row at 1500 m event. During the

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 ...

Essent ISU Worldcup held at the

Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is North America's first covered speed skating oval; it was built for the 1988 Winter Olympics and opened on September 27, 1987.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 ...

on December 6, 2009, at the team pursuit with teammates

and

Brittany Schussler Brittany Schussler (born April 21, 1985) is a Canadian retired speed skater. She was a member of the national speed skating team from 2002 to 2014. Schussler's best individual performance was placing sixth in the 1500 metres at the World Champions ...

with a time of two minutes 55.79 seconds. Groves qualified for 5 events for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games held in Vancouver and participated in the 1000 m, 1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m and team pursuit, more than any other athletes on the Canadian speed skating team. In her first event at the Olympics, the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

, she won a bronze medal. On February 18 she finished fourth in the 1000 metres, .06 seconds behind the bronze medal winner. Her teammate

won the gold medal. On February 21, she won a silver medal in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

. She became the 11th Canadian to win at least four medals at the Olympics (Summer or Winter).

Personal life

Born in Ottawa, Groves attended Fielding Drive Public School and Brookfield High School. She trained with the Ottawa Pacers Speed Skating Club. She majored in kinesiology at

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

and graduated in 2004. Groves was inducted into the

Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame The Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame (french: Temple de la renommée du sport d'Ottawa) is a hall of fame dedicated to recognizing athletes and sportspeople associated with Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Ottawa City Hall and includes over 270 ...

in 2014.

Personal records

Groves' current Adelskalender score is 157.616, which places 6th of all time. Source: SpeedskatingResults.com.

World records

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com.

References and notes

External links

SpeedSkatingBase.eu PB's and link to results Kristina GrovesResults and records of Kristina Groves at SpeedSkatingStats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Groves, Kristina 1976 births Living people Canadian female speed skaters Sportspeople from Ottawa Speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics Olympic speed skaters of Canada University of Calgary alumni Olympic silver medalists for Canada Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic medalists in speed skating Canadian people of Norwegian descent Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships medalists