Paulien van Deutekom (4 February 1981 – 2 January 2019) was a Dutch champion
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 specialised in the middle to long distances, over 1000 and 1500 metres.
Biography
In November 2005, Van Deutekom surprised when she skated among the best at the
Speed Skating World Cup The ISU Speed Skating World Cup is a series of international speed skating competitions, organised annually by the International Skating Union since the winter of 1985–86. Every year during the winter season, a number of competitions on different ...
qualification tournament at several distances and as a result qualified for those World Cups. During her first ever World Cup event in 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.Calgary she skated a new Dutch record over 1500 metres, with a time of 1:55.43, overtaking the previous record by
Annamarie Thomas
Annamarie Thomas (15 September 1971) is a former Dutch speed skater.
Biography
Thomas was an allround speed skater, but favored the shorter distances. The years 1995 and 1996 found her at her peak: in both those years she was Dutch allround cham ...
. Her record was broken a week later by
Ireen Wüst
Irene Karlijn (Ireen) Wüst (; born 1 April 1986) is a Dutch former long track speed skater. Wüst became the most successful speed skating olympian ever by achieving at least one gold medal in each of five consecutive Winter Olympic appearances ...
with a time of 1:54.93.
Later, in December 2005 she participated at the 2005 Dutch Single Distance Championships, which was also the Olympic Qualification tournament. At the 1500 metres distance she finished in second position and qualified for 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 ...
. She also had chances over 1000 metres, however only finished in fourth position and did not directly qualify. A skate-off between her and Barbara de Loor settled the contest for the slot in De Loor's favour. She was selected for the pursuit team. At the Olympics Van Deutekom finished 13th over 1500 metres, while the pursuit team was eliminated at an early stage.
In the European Championships Allround in January 2008 she came second after her teammate
Ireen Wüst
Irene Karlijn (Ireen) Wüst (; born 1 April 1986) is a Dutch former long track speed skater. Wüst became the most successful speed skating olympian ever by achieving at least one gold medal in each of five consecutive Winter Olympic appearances ...
. In February 2008 Van Deutekom won the
World Allround Speed Skating Championships The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world. The event is held over two days, with all skaters entering the first three distances (500 m, ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
. In March 2008 Van Deutekom finished second at the
World Single Distance Championships
The World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating competitions organised by the International Skating Union.
History
Since the late 19th century, speed skating championships were always decided by racing multiple ...
in
Nagano Nagano may refer to:
Places
* Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan
** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture
*** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics
*** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano
*** Nagano Universi ...
in the 1500 metres and the 3000 metres. In March 2012 after the 1500 metre event at the World Cup in Heerenveen, Van Deutekom announced that she was ending her skating career.
Post skating career
Following her retirement van Deutekom was a pundit for Dutch broadcaster NOS.
Van Deutekom died on 2 January 2019 after being diagnosed with lung cancer six months earlier at the age of 37. Van Deutekom is survived by her husband Kay van der Kooi and daughter Lynn, born in 2017.