Gerard Kemkers (born 8 March 1967) is a 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 ...

from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, who represented his native country at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

Calgary, Canada Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

. There he won the bronze medal in the 5000 metres. Kemkers retired from international competition in 1990 and became a coach. During the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, he coached

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 appearan ...

to two medals: 3000 m gold and 1500 m bronze, and

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 ...

to a silver medal on the 5000 m. During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver he coached

to the gold medal at the 5000 m and

to the gold medal on the 1500 m. During Kramer's 10 km race, Kemkers made a mistake and guided Kramer to the wrong lane. Kramer finished first, with a time of 12:54.50 (even though he skated an extra lap in the outer lane) but was disqualified for failing to change lanes. As a result, Lee Seung-hoon won gold with a new Olympic record, 12:58.55. Kramer later said, "At the end of the day, it is my responsibility. I am the skater on the ice, I have to do it".

Records

Personal records

Source:

World records

Tournament overview

Source:

Medals won

Overview of championships won by speed skaters coached by Kemkers

Other achievements

* Netherlands sport coach of the year (2006 and 2013)

References

External links

Gerard Kemkers at SpeedSkatingStats.com

Photos of Gerard Kemkers
* 1967 births Living people Dutch male speed skaters Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Olympic medalists in speed skating Olympic speed skaters for the Netherlands Speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Groningen (city) World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Dutch speed skating coaches Dutch sports coaches Competitors at the 1991 Winter Universiade 20th-century Dutch sportsmen Long stubs with short prose {{Netherlands-speed-skating-bio-stub