Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Yvonne Van Gennip

Yvonne van Gennip
Personal Information
Birth Haarlem NED May 1 1964
Personal Records
500m 41.54
1000m
1500m 2.00.68 Calgary CAN Feb. 27 1988
3000m 4.11.94 Calgary CAN Feb. 23 1988
5000m 7.14.13 Calgary CAN Feb. 28 1988
World Records
3000m 4.16.85 Heerenveen NED Mar. 19 1987
5000m 7.20.35 Heerenveen NED Mar. 20 1987
3000m 4.11.94 Calgary CAN Feb. 23 1988
5000m 7.14.13 Calgary CAN Feb. 28 1988
Olympic Games
1500m 11th Sarajevo YUG Feb. 9 1984
1000m 6th Sarajevo YUG Feb. 13 1984
3000m 5th Sarajevo YUG Feb. 15 1984
3000m Gold Calgary CAN Feb. 23 1988
1500m Gold Calgary CAN Feb. 27 1988
5000m Gold Calgary CAN Feb. 28 1988
1500m NF Albertville FRA Feb. 12 1992
3000m 6th Albertville FRA Feb. 14 1992
5000m NS Albertville FRA Feb. 17 1992
World Championships Allround
1984 12th Deventer NED Jan. 29 1984
1985 4th Sarajevo YUG Feb. 10 1985
1986 4th The Hague NED Feb. 9 1986
1987 Bronze West Allis USA Feb. 8 1987
1988 Silver Skien NOR Mar. 13 1988
1989 Bronze Lake Placid USA Feb. 5 1989
1991 5th Hamar NOR Feb. 3 1991
World Championships Sprint
1982 4th Alkmaar NED Feb. 7 1982
1983 25th Helsinki FIN Feb. 27 1983
1984 14th Trondheim NOR Mar. 4 1984
1987 10th Sainte Foy CAN Feb. 1 1987
European Championships Allround
1984 11th Medeo URS Jan. 15 1984
1985 Silver Groningen NED Jan. 13 1985
1986 Silver Geithus NOR Jan. 12 1986
1987 Silver Groningen NED Jan. 18 1987
1988 Bronze Kongsberg NOR Jan. 17 1988
1989 5th West-Berlin FRG Jan. 15 1989
1991 Bronze Sarajevo YUG Jan. 20 1991
1992 4th Heerenveen NED Jan. 19 1992
World Junior Championships Allround
1981 Bronze Elverum NOR Mar. 1 1981
1982 Silver Innsbruck AUT Feb. 28 1982

Yvonne Maria van Gennip, born on May 1, 1964 in Haarlem, The Netherlands was one of the most successful female Dutch all-round speed skaters. Her main success dates from the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, where she surprisingly won three gold medals.

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 Gennip smashed the world record by almost 5 seconds to win the 3,000 metres, beat her personal record by almost 4 seconds to win the 1,500 metres, and was almost 7 seconds faster than her own world record time to win the 5,000 metres as well.

Yvonne 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 championships, and bronze medals in the 1987 and 1989 world championships.

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