Robert Rintje Ritsma (born 13 April 1970) is a Dutch former long track

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 ...

. 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 which are in reference to their imposing physical appearance. He appeared in the Dutch version of ''The Masked Singer'' as the Springbok. In October 2022 Ritsma started as the Dutch national speed skating coach of the team pursuit, team sprint, and the mass start.

Speed skating career

He has won the World Allround Championships 4 times. He won this title in 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2001; he was second in 1998 and 2003; he was third in 1993, 1994 and 2000. He has won the European Allround Championships a record 6 times: 1994-1996 and 1998-2000. He participated in five

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

, winning two silver and four bronze medals, from the

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and 2006 Games. He also stood at the top of the alltime world ranking, the Adelskalender, for a long time (1,125 days in total).

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Ritsma skated 4

world records 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 ...

: Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

Personal records

Source: SpeedskatingResults.com

Tournament overview

source:

World Cup overview

On 1 December 2013 in Astana, Kazakhstan, Sven Kramer won his 30th ISU World Cup event thus surpassing Ritsma as the most successful Dutch World Cup speed skater. Source: :''– = Did not participate'' :''* = 10000 meter''

Medals won

References

External links

Photos of Rintje RitsmaRintje Ritsma at SpeedSkatingStats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritsma, Rintje 1970 births Living people Dutch male speed skaters Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics 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 Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands People from De Fryske Marren Speed skaters from Friesland Olympic medalists in speed skating World record setters in speed skating Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships medalists 20th-century Dutch sportsmen