Egbert Rolf "Erben" Wennemars (born 1 November 1975) is a Dutch former

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marath ...

. He specialized in the sprint and middle distances of 500, 1000 and 1500 meters, and set six world records during his career.

Speed skating career

Wennemars was the first skater who skated the 1500 m faster than 1:50.00. His 1:49.89 in the summer of 1997, however, was not regarded as an official

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 organizatio ...

. During the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

in Nagano, Japan, where Wennemars was qualified for the 500, 1000 and 1500 m, he dislocated his shoulder when Grunde Njøs from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

fell and collided with Wennemars during the second 500 m race. Wennemars was not able to participate in the other distances after that. Wennemars achieved his first big success in 2003 during 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 multipl ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany, by winning the gold medal at the 1000 m and 1500 m. One year later he became world champion in sprint in Nagano. In 2005 he defended his world sprint title successfully in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, United States. Wennemars qualified for the 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and the team pursuit events at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, Italy. His teammates for the team pursuit were

Sven Kramer Sven Kramer (; born 23 April 1986) is a retired Dutch long track speed skater who has won an all-time record nine World Allround Championships as well as a record ten European Allround Championships. He is the Olympic champion of the 5000 mete ...

, Carl Verheijen,

Mark Tuitert Mark Jan Hendrik Tuitert (; born 4 April 1980) is a retired Dutch speed skating, speed skater. He won gold at the Speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's 1500 metres, 1500 m at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Personal life Tuitert married ...

and

Rintje Ritsma Robert Rintje Ritsma (born 13 April 1970) is a Dutch former long track speed skater. His nickname is the ''Beer van Lemmer'', which translates to the "Bear from Lemmer", analogous to Igor Zhelezovski's nickname "The Bear from Minsk", both of wh ...

. In 2003, Wennemars was chosen as athlete of the year in the Netherlands, and in 2003, 2004 and 2005 as Dutch skater of the year. After failing to qualify for the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

, he announced his farewell from competitive skating. On 11 January 2010, Wennemars officially retired as a speed-skating professional.

Records

Personal records

World records

Tournament overview

source: :''DNS = Did not start'' :''DNF = Did not finish'' :''DQ = Disqualified'' :''NC = No classification''

World Cup

Source: :''(b) = Division B'' :''DNF = Did not finish'' :''DQ = Disqualified'' :''* = 100m (first 100 meters of the World Cup 500 meter)'' :''– = Did not participate''

Medals won

Total number of medals: 198

Personal life

Wennemars is married to TV-presenter Renate van der Zalm, with whom he has two sons: Joep and Niels.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wennemars, Erben 1975 births Dutch male speed skaters Speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic speed skaters for the Netherlands Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in speed skating Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands World record setters in speed skating People from Dalfsen Living people Speed skaters from Overijssel 20th-century Dutch sportsmen