Yvonne Maria Therèse van Gennip (born 1 May 1964) is one of the most successful female Dutch all-round speed skaters. Her main success dates from the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, where she unexpectedly won three gold medals. She was the most successful athlete at the 1988 Winter Olympics, along with Matti Nykänen of Finland.
After she had injured her foot, and had surgery less than two months before the games, the East German women were heavily favoured to win the distances over 500 meters. But Van Gennip smashed the world record by almost five seconds to win the 3000 metres, beat her personal record by almost 4 seconds to win the 1500 metres, and was almost seven seconds faster than her own world record time to win the 5000 metres as well.
Van Gennip participated in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville as well, but did not win a medal. She won a silver medal in the 1988 World Speed Skating Championships, and bronze medals in the 1987 and 1989 World Championships.
Early life Van Gennip was born on 1 May 1964 in Haarlem, the daughter of Johannes Gerardus van Gennip (22 April 1922 – 30 September 1999) and Reina Elisabeth Mettes (20 May 1924 – 15 March 2013).
She married bank director Gert van Kuijk on 15 August 2002 in Zandvoort, the couple divorced in 2009. Since 2010 she has been in a relationship with Jaap de Groot, lead editor for sports for De Telegraaf.
Records
Personal records
World records
DistanceTimeDateLocation3000 m4:16.8519 March 1987Thialf, Heerenveen5000 m7:20.3520 March 1987Thialf, Heerenveen3000 m4:11.9423 February 1988Olympic Oval, Calgary5000 m7:14.1328 February 1988Olympic Oval, Calgary
Achievements
Olympic Games1500 m11thSarajevoYUG9 Feb19841000 m6thSarajevoYUG13 Feb19843000 m5thSarajevoYUG15 Feb19843000 mGoldCalgaryCAN23 Feb19881500 mGoldCalgaryCAN27 Feb19885000 mGoldCalgaryCAN28 Feb19881500 m NFAlbertvilleFRA12 Feb19923000 m 6thAlbertvilleFRA9 Feb19925000 m NSAlbertvilleFRA17 Feb1992World Allround Championships198412thDeventerNED29 Jan.198419854thSarajevoYUG10 Feb.198519864thThe HagueNED9 Feb.19861987BronzeWest AllisU.S.8 Feb.19871988SilverSkienNOR13 Mar.19881989BronzeLake PlacidU.S.5 Feb.198919915thHamarNOR3 Feb.1991World Sprint Championships19824thAlkmaarNED7 Feb.1982198325thHelsinkiFIN27 Feb.1983198414thTrondheimNOR4 Mar.1984198710thSainte FoyCAN1 Feb.1987European Allround Championships198411thMedeoURS15 Jan.19841985SilverGroningenNED13 Jan.19851986SilverGeithusNOR12 Jan.19861987SilverGroningenNED18 Jan.19871988BronzeKongsbergNOR17 Jan.198819895thWest Berlin—15 Jan.19891991BronzeSarajevoYUG20 Jan.199119924thHeerenveenNED19 Jan.1992World Junior Allround Championships1981BronzeElverumNOR1 Mar.19811982SilverInnsbruckAUT28 Feb.1982
See also List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
References
External links