 adrianus "ard" schenk (born 16 september 1944, anna paulowna, north holland) is a former speed skater from the netherlands, who is considered to be one of the best in history. his first olympic success came in 1968, when he won a silver medal at the 1968 winter olympics. between 1970 and 1972 winter olympics, schenk won three consecutive world allround speed skating championships. he won three gold medals at the 1972 winter olympics, becoming, along with galina kulakova of soviet union, the most successful athlete there. ==biography== schenk competed in international meets from 1964 on, winning his first medal at the 1965 world championships and his first gold medal at the 1966 european championships. in the late 60s, schenk was usually bested by his compatriot kees verkerk, but in the early 1970s he dominated international speed skating. the winning duo of ard & keesie were responsible for a lasting popularity of speed skating in the netherlands. schenk's career peaked in 1972. he won three gold medals during the olympic games in sapporo (a fall on the 500&nbsp;m precluded gold in all 4 distances). would the 1000 meters already have been an olympic distance already, schenk would have been the favorite for gold, as he had won five of the six 1000 meter races at world sprint championship he parti
1944_births Dutch_male_speed_skaters Former_world_record_holders_in_speed_skating Living_people Olympic_gold_medalists_for_the_Netherlands Olympic_medalists_in_speed_skating Olympic_silver_medalists_for_the_Netherlands Olympic_speed_skaters_of_the_Netherlands People_from_Anna_Paulowna Speed_skaters_at_the_1964_Winter_Olympics Speed_skaters_at_the_1968_Winter_Olympics Speed_skaters_at_the_1972_Winter_Olympics