# Hans van Helden

Hans van Helden (born 27 April 1948) is a former speed skater, originally competing for the Netherlands, later for France.

## Life and career

Despite being a very talented speed skater and having an excellent skating style and technique, Van Helden never won any major international tournaments. However, he did become Dutch Allround Champion twice (1976 and 1977) and he did break two world records. Being the then-current world record holder on the 5,000 m, he "only" finished 3rd on that distance during the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, possibly because the ice was in much worse condition during his race than it was when his major rivals (Sten Stensen and Piet Kleine) ran theirs.
In Dutch skating, Van Helden was known as an enfant terrible. His clashes with fellow Dutch skaters, his being fed up with fighting the KNSB (Koninklijke Nederlandsche Schaatsenrijders Bond – the Royal Dutch Skaters Federation), and (in 1980) his marriage to a French skater (Marie-France Vives), led to his naturalisation to French citizenship in December 1981. As a Frenchman, having very little competition from other French skaters, he had no problems qualifying for skating events. This also resulted in a long career as a speed skater and he participated in international competitions until he was 40.
One of his most memorable feats was finishing 4th on the 1,500 m during the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, aged 35, and well ahead of his former compatriots, Dutchmen Hilbert van der Duim, Frits Schalij, and Hein Vergeer.

## Records
### Personal records

Personal records :
| Men's Speed skating |||||
| Event | Result | Date | Location | Notes |
| 500 meter | 39.00 | 5 January 1986 | Davos | |
| 1000 meter | 1:16.32 | 18 February 1988 | Calgary | |
| 1500 meter | 1:55.61 | 13 March 1976 | Inzell | |
| 3000 meter | 4:08.11 | 8 March 1984 | Inzell | |
| 5000 meter | 6:57.59 | 17 February 1988 | Calgary | |
| 10000 meter | 14:34.84 | 21 February 1988 | Calgary | |
| Big combination | 165.385 | 6 March 1988 | Medeo | |
Van Helden was number one on the Adelskalender, the all-time allround speed skating ranking, from 13 March 1976 to 25 December 1976 – a total of 287 days. He has an Adelskalender score of 163.047 points.

### World records

Over the course of his career, Van Helden skated two world records:
| Event | Result | Date | Location | Note |
| 5000 m | 7:07.82 | 30 January 1976 | Davos | World record until 5 March 1976 |
| 1500 m | 1:55.61 | 13 March 1976 | Inzell | World record until 20 March 1977 |
Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

## Tournament overview

| Season | Dutch Championships Allround | European Championships Allround | Olympic Games | World Championships Allround | World Championships Sprint |
| 1970–71 | AMSTERDAM DQ 500m 17th 5000m 12th 1500m DNQ 10000m NC overall | | | | |
| 1971–72 | DEVENTER 4th 500m 13th 5000m 6th 1500m DNQ 10000m NC overall(13th) | | | | |
| 1972–73 | HEERENVEEN 500m 5th 5000m 1500m 27th 10000m overall | GRENOBLE 4th 500m 5th 5000m 1500m 6th 10000m overall | | DEVENTER 25th 500m 5th 5000m 11th 1500m 6th 10000m 7th overall | OSLO 25th 500m 5th 1000m 24th 500m 8th 1000m 16th overall |
| 1973–74 | ASSEN 5th 500m 4th 5000m 1500m 5th 10000m 4th overall | ESKILSTUNA 10th 500m 5000m 6th 1500m 10000m overall | | INZELL 9th 500m 6th 5000m 1500m 12th 10000m 5th overall | INNSBRUCK 22nd 500m 6th 1000m 24th 500m 1000m 8th overall |
| 1974–75 | | | | | |
| 1975–76 | GRONINGEN 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall | OSLO 4th 500m 5th 5000m 1500m 5th 10000m 5th overall | INNSBRUCK 19th 500m 5th 1000m 1500m 5000m 10000m | HEERENVEEN 4th 500m 5000m 5th 1500m 10th 10000m overall | WEST BERLIN 12th 500m 1000m 19th 500m 1000m 4th overall |
| 1976–77 | ASSEN 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall | LARVIK 7th 500m 4th 5000m 6th 1500m 5th 10000m 5th overall | | HEERENVEEN 12th 500m 5000m 7th 1500m 11th 10000m 7th overall | |
| 1977–78 | EINDHOVEN 500m 4th 5000m 1500m DNS 10000m 12th overall | OSLO 4th 500m 13th 5000m 7th 1500m 15th 10000m 12th overall | | | |
| 1978–79 | HEERENVEEN 7th 500m 5000m 4th 1500m 5th 10000m 4th overall | | | | |
| 1979–80 | THE HAGUE 8th 500m 5th 5000m 1500m 6th 10000m 4th overall | TRONDHEIM 13th 500m 13th 5000m 13th 1500m 15th 10000m 13th overall | | | |
| 1980–81 | ASSEN 4th 500m 9th 5000m 5th 1500m 11th 10000m 7th overall | | | | |
| 1981–82 | | OSLO 15th 500m 13th 5000m 9th 1500m 16th 10000m 15th overall | | ASSEN 28th 500m 5th 5000m 15th 1500m 15th 10000m 15th overall | |
| 1982–83 | | THE HAGUE 8th 500m 19th 5000m 13th 1500m DNQ 10000m NC overall (17th) | | OSLO 13th 500m 15th 5000m 6th 1500m 16th 10000m 14th overall | |
| 1983–84 | | LARVIK 13th 500m 10th 5000m 1500m 6th 10000m 6th overall | SARAJEVO 24th 500m 18th 1000m 4th 1500m 11th 5000m 25th 10000m | GOTHENBURG 8th 500m 22nd 5000m 7th 1500m 15th 10000m 10th overall | |
| 1984–85 | | ESKILSTUNA 22nd 500m 24th 5000m 27th 1500m DNQ 10000m NC overall (26th) | | HAMAR 33rd 500m 22nd 5000m 27th 1500m DNQ 10000m NC overall (27th) | |
| 1985–86 | | OSLO 16th 500m 8th 5000m 14th 1500m 13th 10000m 14th overall | | INZELL 19th 500m 12th 5000m 26th 1500m 10th 10000m 14th overall | |
| 1986–87 | | TRONDHEIM 23rd 500m 24th 5000m 21st 1500m DNQ 10000m NC overall (24th) | | HEERENVEEN 28th 500m 32nd 5000m 31st 1500m DNQ 10000m NC overall (31st) | |
| 1987–88 | | THE HAGUE 14th 500m 18th 5000m 13th 1500m DNQ 10000m NC overall (18th) | CALGARY 33rd 500m 29th 1000m 19th 1500m 22nd 5000m 23rd 10000m | ALMA–ATA 30th 500m 7th 5000m 17th 1500m 10000m 8th overall | |
* NC = Did not qualify for the final distance; classification calculated from the three shorter distances
* DQ = Disqualified
* DNQ = Did not qualify for the final distance
source:

## Medals won

| Championship | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Dutch Allround | 8 | 7 | 3 |
| European Allround | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Olympic Games | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| World Allround | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| World Sprint | 2 | 1 | 0 |