Hans van Helden (born 27 April 1948) is a 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. ...

, originally competing for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, later for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Life and career

Despite being a very talented speed skater and having an excellent skating style and technique, Van Helden never won any major international tournaments. However, he did become Dutch Allround Champion twice (1976 and 1977) and he did break two world records. Being the then-current world record holder on the 5,000 m, he "only" finished 3rd on that distance during the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label= Austro-Bavarian), was a ...

in Innsbruck, possibly because the ice was in much worse condition during his race than it was when his major rivals ( Sten Stensen and

Piet Kleine Pieter "Piet" Kleine (born 17 September 1951) is a former speed skater from the Netherlands who specialized in the longer distances. Short biography At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Piet Kleine became Olympic Champion on the 10,000&nbs ...

) ran theirs. In Dutch skating, Van Helden was known as an ''

enfant terrible ''Enfant terrible'' (; ; "terrible child") is a French expression, traditionally referring to a child who is terrifyingly candid by saying embarrassing things to parents or others. However, the expression has drawn multiple usage in careers of ...

''. His clashes with fellow Dutch skaters, his being fed up with fighting the KNSB (''Koninklijke Nederlandsche Schaatsenrijders Bond'' – the Royal Dutch Skaters Federation), and (in 1980) his marriage to a French skater ( Marie-France Vives), led to his

naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

to French citizenship in December 1981. As a Frenchman, having very little competition from other French skaters, he had no problems qualifying for skating events. This also resulted in a long career as a speed skater and he participated in international competitions until he was 40. One of his most memorable feats was finishing 4th on the 1,500 m during the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

, aged 35, and well ahead of his former compatriots, Dutchmen Hilbert van der Duim, Frits Schalij, and Hein Vergeer.

Records

Personal records

Van Helden was number one on the Adelskalender, the all-time allround speed skating ranking, from 13 March 1976 to 25 December 1976 – a total of 287 days. He has an Adelskalender score of 163.047 points.

World records

Over the course of his career, Van Helden skated two

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

Tournament overview

* NC = Did not qualify for the final distance; classification calculated from the three shorter distances * DQ = Disqualified * DNQ = Did not qualify for the final distance source:

Medals won

References

* Eng, Trond. ''All Time International Championships, Complete Results: 1889 – 2002''. Askim, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 2002. * Teigen, Magne. ''Komplette Resultater Internasjonale Mesterskap 1889 – 1989: Menn/Kvinner, Senior/Junior, allround/sprint''. Veggli, Norway: WSSSA-Skøytenytt, 1989.

External links

Hans van Helden at SpeedSkatingStats.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helden, Hans Van 1948 births Living people Dutch male speed skaters French male speed skaters Olympic speed skaters of France Olympic speed skaters of the Netherlands Speed skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Olympic medalists in speed skating Medalists at the 1976 Winter Olympics World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists World record setters in speed skating People from Almkerk Sportspeople from North Brabant