# Gerard van Velde

Gerard Pieter Hendrik van Velde (born 30 November 1971) is a Dutch retired speed skater who specialised in sprinting. He won an Olympic gold medal in 2002.

## Biography

Van Velde was considered the best Dutch sprinter during the early 1990s, but did not manage to win a medal in either the 1992 or 1994 Winter Olympics. Particularly frustrating were the 1992 Games, where he missed a bronze medal by one-hundredth of a second.
During the late 1990s, clap skates became standard in Olympic competition. Van Velde had such difficulty adjusting to the techniques required with these new skates that he retired from skating and became a car salesman. However, he was not finished with the skating world.
Rintje Ritsma, another Dutch skater invited Van Velde to be his training partner, and, during training, he mastered the clap skate techniques. He decided to try out for the 2002 Winter Olympics, in spite of the arrival of a new generation of Dutch sprinters such as Jan Bos, Erben Wennemars and Jakko Jan Leeuwangh. Van Velde became the fourth sprinter to qualify for the games.
In Salt Lake City, he started before all the other favorites and raced to a world record finish. His time of 1:07.18 shaved more than half a second from the previous best world time, and more than a second from his personal best. The skaters who followed were unable to best him, and he won the gold medal.
In December 2005, at the Dutch Olympic trials in Heerenveen, van Velde failed to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. In retirement he became a coach.

## Records
### Personal records

Personal records :
| Men's speed skating |||||
| Event | Result | Date | Location | Notes |
| 500 m | 34.59 | 6 February 2003 | Calgary | |
| 1000 m | 1:07.18 | 16 February 2002 | Salt Lake City | Olympic record |
| 1500 m | 1:48.53 | 26 September 2004 | Calgary | |
| 3000 m | 4:02.18 | 30 November 2004 | Calgary | |
Source: SpeedskatingResults.com

### World records

| Event | Result | Date | Location | Notes |
| 1000 m | 1:07.18 | 16 February 2002 | Salt Lake City | World record until 20 November 2005 |
Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

## Tournament overview

| Season | Dutch Championships Single Distances | Dutch Championships Sprint | Olympic Games | World Championships Single Distances | World Championships Sprint | World Cup GWC |
| 1989–90 | HEERENVEEN 16th 500m 17e 1000m | ASSEN 10th 500m 10th 1000m 6th 500m 1000m 8th overall | | | | |
| 1990–91 | THE HAGUE 500m 1000m 10 th1500m | | | | INZELL 20th 500m 10th 1000m 16th 500m 17th 1000m 15th overall | |
| 1991–92 | HEERENVEEN 500m 4th 1000m | HEERENVEEN 500m 1000m 500m 1000m overall | ALBERTVILLE 5th 500m 4th 1000m | | OSLO 9th 500m 16th 1000m 6th 500m 1000m 6th overall | |
| 1992–93 | DEVENTER 500m 1000m | UTRECHT 500m 5th 1000m 500m 4th 1000m overall | | | IKAHO 18th 500m 9th 1000m 15th 500m 8th 1000m 11th overall | |
| 1993–94 | HEERENVEEN 500m 1000m 12th 1500m | THE HAGUE 500m 1000m 13th 500m 1000m 13th overall | LILLEHAMMAR 21st 500m 9th 1000m | | CALGARY 15h 500m 5th 1000m 17th 500m 33rd 1000m 30th overall | |
| 1994–95 | THE HAGUE 500m 1000m | ALKMAAR 500m 1000m 500m 1000m overall | | | MILWAUKEE 17th 500m 4th 1000m 11th 500m 5th 1000m 10th overall | |
| 1995–96 | GRONINGEN 500m 1000m | ASSEN 500m 1000m 500m 1000m overall | | HAMAR 10th 500m 4th 1000m | HEERENVEEN 36th 500m 4th 1000m 25th 500m 10th 1000m 33rd overall | 13th 500m 1000m |
| 1996–97 | | GRONINGEN 500m 1000m 500m 1000m overall | | WARSAW 18th 500m 6th 1000m | HAMAR 12th 500m 10th 1000m 13th 500m 8th 1000m 11th overall | 15th 500m 6th 1000m |
| 1997–98 | HEERENVEEN 4th 500m 7th 1000m | GRONINGEN 7th 500m 7th 1000m 7th 500m 10th 1000m 6th overall | | CALGARY NS2 500m | | 44th 500m 23rd 1000m |
| 1998–99 | | | | | | |
| 1999–2000 | DEVENTER 500m 5th 1000m | UTRECHT 500m 4th 1000m 4th 500m 4th 1000m overall | | NAGANO 19th 500m | SEOUL 22nd 500m 19th 1000m 20th 500m 23rd 1000m 21st overall | 32nd 500m 37th 1000m |
| 2000–01 | THE HAGUE 7th 500m 12th 1000m 19th 1500m | HEERENVEEN 500m 5th 1000m 500m 4th 1000m overall | | SALT LAKE CITY 11th 500m 5th 500m | INZELL 11th 500m 4th 1000m 9th 500m 5th 1000m 7th overall | 19th 500m 14th 1000m |
| 2001–02 | HEERENVEEN 500m 1000m 7th 1500m | GRONINGEN 500m 1000m 500m 4th 1000m overall | SALT LAKE CITY 4th 500m 1000m | | HAMAR 7th 500m 1000m 5th 500m 5th 1000m 4th overall | 5th 500m 9th 1000m |
| 2002–03 | UTRECHT 500m 1000m 8th 1500m | GRONINGEN 500m 4th 1000m 500m DNF 1000m NC overall | | BERLIN 4th 500m 1000m | CALGARY 500m 4th 1000m 500m 4th 1000m overall | 4th 500m 1000m |
| 2003–04 | HEERENVEEN 500m 1000m | UTRECHT 500m 1000m 500m 1000m overall | | SEOUL 8th 500m NF 1000m | NAGANO 7th 500m 6th 1000m 500m 1000m 4th overall | 27th 100m 7th 500m 1000m |
| 2004–05 | ASSEN 500m 6th 1000m 14th 1500m | GRONINGEN 500m 4th 1000m 500m 1000m overall | | INZELL 10th 500m | SALT LAKE CITY 500m DNS 1000m DNS 500m DNS 1000m NC overall | 11th 500m 1000m |
| 2005–06 | HEERENVEEN 5th 500m 6th 1000m | ASSEN 500m 1000m 500m 5th 1000m overall | | | HEERENVEEN 9th 500m 10th 1000m 9th 500m 11th 1000m 6th overall | 9th 500m 7th 1000m |
| 2006–07 | ASSEN 4th 500m 9th 1000m | GRONINGEN 4th 500m 6th 1000m 500m 6th 1000m 4th overall | | | HAMAR 15h 500m 14th 1000m DNS 500m DNS 1000m NC overall | 15th 500m |
| 2007–08 | | HEERENVEEN 8th 500m 13th 1000m 12th 500m 11th 1000m 10th overall | | | | |
| 2008–09 | | GRONINGEN 5th 500m 4th 1000m 6th 500m 4th 1000m 6th overall | | | | |
Source:
    DQ = Disqualified
    DNF = Did not finish
    DNS = Did not start
    NC = No classification

## Medals won

| Championship | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Dutch Single Distances | 12 | 5 | 3 |
| Dutch Sprint | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| Olympic Games | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| World Single Distances | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| World Sprint | 0 | 1 | 0 |