Moniek Kleinsman (born 3 November 1982) is a Dutch

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 ...

who was born in

Bentelo Bentelo (Low German: ''Beantel'') is a farming village in the Dutch municipality Hof van Twente. Overview It was first mentioned in 1188 as Benlo. The etymology is unclear. Bentelo started to develop after World War II. The Catholic church was ...

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

, and currently resides in Wolvega. She competed 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 ...

.Olympic results
/ref> Kleinsman got her first speed skating lessons at the age of four. A few years later, when she was getting more serious into the sport she was mainly focussing on

short track speed skating Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice skating, ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the s ...

, just like her brother. However, at the age of twelve she decided to concentrate on

long track speed skating 　 Long-track speed skating, usually simply referred to as speed skating, is the Olympic sport, Olympic discipline of speed skating where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as ice skat ...

instead. After competing among the seniors for a few years her breakthrough came in the 2004–05 season, when she won the Dutch national allround championships. That season she appeared on World Cup meets, became 7th at the European allround championships, followed by an eighth position at the World allround championships. Finally, at the

KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships The Dutch Single Distance Championships of speed skating, organised by the (KNSB), is the official Dutch championship to determine the Dutch champion over a single distance, in contrast to the KNSB Dutch Allround Championships, which determine t ...

she won two bronze medals over 3000 and 5000 metres. On 28 December 2005 Kleinsman qualified herself for the

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 ...

at the 3000 metres. It was the third time behind

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 ...

and

Renate Groenewold Renate Titzia Groenewold (born 8 October 1976) is a Dutch former long track speed skater and road bicycle racer. Groenewold has won several Dutch Championships. In 1999, 2002 and 2003 she won the Dutch allround championship. At the European ...

. A second try to qualify for the race over 5000 metres fails as she became fourth, however she skated a personal best time that day. Prior to the 2006 Winter Olympics Kleinsman became under pressure by the Dutch media as it was unsure whether

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

silver medalist

Gretha Smit Grietje "Greta" Smit (born 20 January 1976) is a Dutch former speed skater. Smit won a surprising silver medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics in the 5000 metre event. She skated a world record broken in a later pair by Claudia Pechstein. Prior to ...

could participate at the Olympic 5000 metres race. Smit finished third at the Dutch qualifying competition where only the first and second rider automatically qualified. The third spot had to be won during the Olympic 3000 metres race. To accomplish this three Dutch riders had to finish among the first 16 riders on the distance. Ireen Wüst and Renate Groenewold were expected to do this and indeed reached their goal with Wüst even winning the gold medal. Kleinsman was expected to reach the first 16 as well, but there were some doubts by analysts and the pressure on Kleinsman rose. In the end Kleinsman under performed in her race, finishing in 17th position behind

Anna Rokita Anna Rokita (born 30 January 1986) is an Austrian long track speed skating, long track speed skating, speed skater who participates in international competitions. She is the daughter of Polish speed skater Jerzy Rokita. Personal records ...

who skated almost a second faster. As a result, Smit was unable to start at the 5000 metres and Kleinsman got under fire by the media again. Her reaction was that she felt sorry for Smit, but that it was not her problem. She did all she could, but was unable to skate faster. She said people should not blame her, if Smit wanted to race in Turin she had to skate faster at the qualifying tournament. Later during the Games she also skated in the pursuit team, where Smit also participated in. Kleinsman was unable to follow the team as soon as the half way mark was passed and the other members had to slow their speed. In the elimination rounds the Dutch faced high favourites

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and were eliminated. Unless her words the pressure remained and she had a hard time during her preparations for the next season. She was unable to get back to her good form she constantly had before the Turin incident and did not qualify for any of the major tournaments in the season like the World Cups, continental and world championships. However, besides her speed skating she still studies

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...

and therefore was eligible to qualify for the

2007 Winter Universiade The 2007 Winter Universiade, the XXIII Winter Universiade, took place in Turin, Italy from January 17 to 27, 2007. Opening ceremony The Opening Ceremony of the XXIII Winter Universiade Torino 2007 was held with a cast of acrobats, circus perform ...

, which were also held in Turin. Kleinsman succeeded in the qualification program and was determined for another chance in Turin and to close the subject that resulted in her bad period. At the 1500 metres she did well among the top skaters and finished in a third position, which was good for a bronze medal. She also won a silver medal over 5000 metres and a gold in the team pursuit alongside

Janneke Ensing Janneke Ensing (born 21 September 1986) is a Dutch former sportsperson, who competed in speed skating in the 2000s before becoming a cyclist, competing for seven different teams between 2009 and 2021. Career Speed skating In 2002, she was the Du ...

and Diane Valkenburg.

Championships

;National Allround Championships :

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

–

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

, 12th

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleinsman, Moniek 1982 births Dutch female speed skaters Speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic speed skaters for the Netherlands Speed skaters at the 2007 Winter Universiade Medalists at the 2007 Winter Universiade Winter World University Games medalists in speed skating People from Hof van Twente Living people FISU World University Games gold medalists for New Zealand FISU World University Games silver medalists for the Netherlands FISU World University Games bronze medalists for the Netherlands 20th-century Dutch women Speed skaters from Overijssel 21st-century Dutch sportswomen