Robert Rintje Ritsma (born 13 April 1970) is a Dutch former
long track 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. ...
. His nickname is the ''Beer van Lemmer'', which translates to the Bear from Lemmer, analogous to
Igor Zhelezovski
Igor Nikolayevich Zhelezovski or Ihar Mikałajevič Žalazoŭski (russian: Игорь Николаевич Железовский; be, Ігар Мікалаевіч Жалязоўскі; 1 July 1963 – 12 June 2021) was a Soviet and Belarusian ...
's nickname "The Bear from Minsk", both of which are in reference to their imposing physical appearance.
He appeared in the Dutch version of ''The Masked Singer'' as the Springbok.
In October 2022 Ritsma started as the Dutch national speed skating coach of the team pursuit, team sprint, and the mass start.
Speed skating career
He has won the
World Allround Championships 4 times. He won this title in 1995, 1996,1999 and 2001; he was second in 1998 and 2003; he was third in 1993, 1994 and 2000.
He has won the
European Allround Championships a record 6 times: 1994-1996 and 1998-2000.
He participated in five
Winter Olympics
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 h ...
, winning two silver and four bronze medals, from the
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...
,
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
and
2006 Games.
He also stood at the top of the alltime world ranking, the
Adelskalender, for a long time (1,125 days in total).
Records
World records
Over the course of his career, Ritsma skated 4
world records
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
Source: SpeedskatingResults.com
Tournament overview
source:
World Cup overview
On 1 December 2013 in Astana, Kazakhstan,
Sven Kramer won his 30th ISU World Cup event thus surpassing Ritsma as the most successful Dutch World Cup speed skater.
Source:
:''– = Did not participate''
:''* = 10000 meter''
Medals won
References
External links
Photos of Rintje RitsmaRintje Ritsma at SpeedSkatingStats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritsma, Rintje
1970 births
Living people
Dutch male speed skaters
Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics
Speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics
Speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Olympic speed skaters of the Netherlands
Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands
Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands
People from De Fryske Marren
Sportspeople from Friesland
Olympic medalists in speed skating
World record setters in speed skating
Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics
World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists
World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships medalists