Monique Cornelia Annamaria Velzeboer (born in Oud Ade on 18 October 1969) is a Dutch skater and photographer. At the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988 she won Gold, silver and bronze in the short track skating discipline, when short-track speed skating was held as a demonstration sport. She ranked also 4th in the

500 metres The 500 metres is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field and road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track a ...

of the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

. Her life as an elite sport star ended early, during a training for the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

Monique had a bad fall in

Font-Romeu Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via (; ), or simply Odeillo, is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales and Cerdagne near the Spanish border in the south of France. It comprises the villages of Odeillo and Via, as well as Font-Romeu, one of the oldest ski reso ...

and she broke both her wrists and became

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

.O'Reilly seeks break in the cloud: Stephen Brenkley meets the Olympian whose ideal survives a terrible ordeal
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' - Stephen Brenkley - 6 February 1994 After a difficult period Monique is now full of life. Monique is a photographer and travels around the world to the most impressive places to photograph, she was already in Mexico, India, Rwanda, Bangladesh and Nepal. Monique photographs for the Liliane Fund, a Fund which is committed to children with disabilities in developing countries. Through the Monique Velzeboer Foundation, she sells photos, calendars, cards and the proceeds are going to the Liliane Fund. Her three siblings, Simone,

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

and Alex were also speed skaters. As are her nieces Xandra and Michelle.

References

External links

Monique Velzeboer Foundation

Monique Velzeboer Photography
1969 births Living people Dutch female speed skaters Olympic speed skaters for the Netherlands Speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics People from Kaag en Braassem Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Dutch female short-track speed skaters Olympic medalists in speed skating Speed skaters from South Holland 21st-century Dutch women 20th-century Dutch sportswomen {{Netherlands-speed-skating-bio-stub