Rintje Ritsma

Robert Rintje Ritsma (born 13 April 1970)^[1] is a Dutch former long track speed skater. His nickname is the Beer van Lemmer, which translates to the "Bear from Lemmer", analogous to Igor Zhelezovski's nickname "The Bear from Minsk", both of which are in reference to their imposing physical appearance.

Rintje Ritsma

Rintje Ritsma in 2006
Personal information
Nickname	Beer van Lemmer
Nationality	Dutch
Born	(1970-04-13) 13 April 1970 (age 55) Lemmer, Netherlands
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	93 kg (205 lb)
Website	www.rintjeritsma.nl
Sport
Country	Netherlands
Sport	Speed skating
Turned pro	1988
Retired	2008
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	500 m: 38.90 (1999) 1000 m: 1:10.19 (1999) 1500 m: 1:45.86 (2002) 3000 m: 3:49.29 (2004) 5000 m: 6:20.26 (2005) 10 000 m: 13:28.19 (1998)
Medal record Speed skating Representing  Netherlands Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 2 4 World Allround 4 2 3 World Distance 2 2 1 European Allround 6 2 2 Total 12 8 10 Olympic Games 1994 Lillehammer 1,500 m 1998 Nagano 5,000 m 1994 Lillehammer 5,000 m 1998 Nagano 1,500 m 1998 Nagano 10,000m 2006 Turin Team pursuit World Allround Championships 1995 Baselga di Pinè allround 1996 Inzell allround 1999 Hamar allround 2001 Budapest allround 1998 Heerenveen allround 2003 Gothenburg allround 1993 Hamar allround 1994 Gothenburg allround 2000 Milwaukee allround World Single Distance Championships 1997 Warsaw 1,500 m 1997 Warsaw 5,000 m 1998 Calgary 5,000 m 1997 Warsaw 10,000m 1999 Heerenveen 1,500 m European Allround Championships 1994 Hamar allround 1995 Heerenveen allround 1996 Heerenveen allround 1998 Helsinki allround 1999 Heerenveen allround 2000 Hamar allround 1997 Heerenveen allround 2003 Heerenveen allround 1992 Heerenveen allround 1993 Heerenveen allround

He appeared in the Dutch version of The Masked Singer as the Springbok.

In October 2022 Ritsma started as the Dutch national speed skating coach of the team pursuit, team sprint, and the mass start.^[2]

Speed skating career

He has won the World Allround Championships 4 times. He won this title in 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2001; he was second in 1998 and 2003; he was third in 1993, 1994 and 2000.

He has won the European Allround Championships a record 6 times: 1994-1996 and 1998-2000.

He participated in five Winter Olympics, winning two silver and four bronze medals, from the 1994, 1998 and 2006 Games.

He also stood at the top of the alltime world ranking, the Adelskalender, for a long time (1,125 days in total).

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Ritsma skated 4 world records:

Event	Result	Date	Location	Notes
1500 meter	1:51.60	8 January 1994	Hamar	World record until 16 February 1994
Big combination	156.201	9 January 1994	Hamar	World record until 4 January 1998
1500 meter	1:48.88	20 December 1997	Heerenveen	World record until 12 February 1998
Big combination	152.651	7 February 1999	Hamar	World record until 17 March 2002

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com^[3]

Ritsma at the 2003 Dutch Championships in Eindhoven

Personal records

Personal records
Men's speed skating
Event	Result	Date	Location	Notes
500 meter	35.90	20 February 1999	Hamar
1000 meter	1:10.19	20 February 1999	Hamar
1500 meter	1:45.86	19 February 2002	Hamar
3000 meter	3:49.29	11 March 2004	Heerenveen
5000 meter	6:20.26	19 November 2005	Salt Lake City
10000 meter	13:28.19	17 February 1998	Hamar

Source: SpeedskatingResults.com^[4]

Tournament overview

Season	Dutch Championships Single Distances	Dutch Championships Allround	Dutch Championships Sprint	European Championships Allround	Olympic Games	World Championships Single Distances	World Championships Allround	World Championships Sprint	World Cup GWC	World Championships Junior Allround
1987–88										SEOUL 15th 500m 7th 3000m 9th 1500m 4th 5000m 5th overall
1988–89	HEERENVEEN 23rd 500m 16th 1500m 12th 5000m									KYIV 29th 500m 3000m 8th 1500m 5000m overall
1989–90	HEERENVEEN 11th 500m 8th 1500m 9th 5000m 15th 10000m	ASSEN 8th 500m 5th 5000m 6th 1500m 5th 10000m 5th overall
1990–91	THE HAGUE 4th 1500m 4th 5000m 6th 10000m	ALKMAAR 12th 500m 5th 5000m 12th 1500m 6th 10000m 7th overall							13th 1500m
1991–92	HEERENVEEN 5th 1000m 1500m 6th 5000m 7th 10000m	ALKMAAR 500m 5000m 1500m 4th 10000m overall		HEERENVEEN 4th 500m 6th 5000m 1500m 6th 10000m overall	ALBERTVILLE 27th 500m 12th 1000m 4th 1500m		CALGARY 5th 500m 8th 5000m 8th 1500m 6th 10000m 5th overall		4th 1500m 11th 5000/10000m
1992–93	DEVENTER 500m 1500m 5000m 10000m	ASSEN 500m 5th 5000m 1500m 5th 10000m overall		HEERENVEEN 500m 4th 5000m 1500m 10000m overall			HAMAR 500m 4th 5000m 1500m 4th 10000m overall		1500m 5000/10000m
1993–94	HEERENVEEN 1500m 5000m 10000m	THE HAGUE 500m 4th 5000m 1500m 10000m overall		HAMAR 500m 5000m 1500m 4th 10000m overall	LILLEHAMMER 1500m 5000m 7th 10000m		GOTHENBURG 8th 500m 6th 5000m 4th 1500m 4th 10000m overall		27th 1000m 1500m 5000/10000m
1994–95	THE HAGUE 1500m 5000m 10000m	ASSEN 500m 6th 5000m 1500m 10000m overall		HEERENVEEN 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall			BASELGA di PINÈ 500m 5th 5000m 1500m 10000m overall		1500m 5000/10000m
1995–96	GRONINGEN 1500m	THE HAGUE 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall		HEERENVEEN 7th 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall		HAMAR 8th 5000m 10th 10000m	INZELL 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall		8th 1500m 5000/10000m
1996–97		ASSEN 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall		HEERENVEEN 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall		WARSAW 1500m 5000m 10000m	NAGANO 9th 500m 7th 5000m 5th 1500m 7th 10000m 5th overall		1500m 5000/10000m
1997–98	HEERENVEEN 1500m 5000m			HELSINKI 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall	NAGANO 1500m 5000m 10000m	CALGARY 4th 1500m 5000m	HEERENVEEN 4th 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall		1500m 4th 5000/10000m
1998–99	GRONINGEN 1500m 5000m 4th 10000m		GRONINGEN 4th 500m 1000m 5th 500m 1000m 4th overall	HEERENVEEN 500m 5000m 1500m 9th 10000m overall		HEERENVEEN 1500m 18th 5000m	HAMAR 4th 500m 6th 5000m 1500m 4th 10000m overall	CALGARY 17th 500m 9th 1000m 27th 500m 14th 1000m 19th overall	1500m 5th 5000/10000m
1999–2000		THE HAGUE 500m 5000m 1500m 5th 10000m overall		HAMAR 500m 4th 5000m 4th 1500m 6th 10000m overall			MILWAUKEE 7th 500m 6th 5000m 5th 1500m 7th 10000m overall		1500m 4th 5000/10000m
2000–01	THE HAGUE 11th 1000m 5th 1500m 5000m	HEERENVEEN 24th 500m 13th 5000m 9th 1500m DNQ 10000m NC22 overall				SALT LAKE CITY 13th 1500m	BUDAPEST 5th 500m 7th 5000m 1500m 10000m overall		1500m 9th 5000/10000m
2001–02	GRONINGEN 9th 1000m 1500m 5000m	ALKMAAR 500m 15th 5000m DNS 1500m DNS 10000m NC overall	GRONINGEN 13th 500m 11th 1000m 13th 500m 12th 1000m 12th overall		SALT LAKE CITY 9th 1500m				12th 1500m 16th 5000/10000m
2002–03	UTRECHT 11th 1500m 6th 5000m	ASSEN 8th 500m 6th 5000m 4th 1500m 10000m overall		HEERENVEEN 8th 500m 5000m 4th 1500m 10000m overall			GOTHENBURG 11th 500m 5000m 5th 1500m 10000m overall
2003–04	HEERENVEEN 13th 5000m	EINDHOVEN 10th 500m 12th 5000m 10th 1500m 10th 10000m 9th overall
2004–05	ASSEN 25th 1500m 10th 5000m	HEERENVEEN 6th 500m 12th 5000m 13th 1500m 8th 10000m 7th overall
2005–06	HEERENVEEN 22nd 1500m 4th 5000m	UTRECHT 5th 500m 5000m 11th 1500m 10000m overall			TURIN team pursuit				15th 5000/10000m
2006–07	ASSEN 20th 5000m	HEERENVEEN 16th 500m 5th 5000m 21st 1500m 5th 10000m 6th overall							team pursuit
2007–08		GRONINGEN 19th 500m 15th 5000m 22nd 1500m DNQ 10000m NC overall(20)

source:^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

World Cup overview

On 1 December 2013 in Astana, Kazakhstan, Sven Kramer won his 30th ISU World Cup event thus surpassing Ritsma as the most successful Dutch World Cup speed skater.

Season	1500 meter
1990–1991	17th	20th	22nd	9th	–
1991–1992	4th			10th	10th
1992–1993						4th
1993–1994	4th		5th
1994–1995	5th			5th			6th
1995–1996	5th	4th	5th	4th	8th	12th
1996–1997			–	–	5th
1997–1998	4th		4th			–
1998–1999	7th		6th	–
1999–2000	6th		17th	6th
2000–2001				16th	16th
2001–2002	5th	11th	–	–	6th	10th
2005–2006

Season	5000/10000 meter
1990–1991
1991–1992	–	20th*	7th	14th
1992–1993		4th				9th	8th*
1993–1994			*		4th	4th	5th*
1994–1995								7th*
1995–1996		4th					*
1996–1997				–*	6th
1997–1998	5th	4th	6th	*		–
1998–1999		16th*		–
1999–2000	4th	6th*	13th		4th
2000–2001		–*	4th	–	16th
2001–2002		12th	20th	–	–
2005–2006	12th	13th	–*	15th	8th

Season	Season	Team pursuit
1990–1991
1991–1992
1992–1993
1993–1994
1994–1995
1995–1996
1996–1997
1997–1998
1998–1999
1999–2000
2000–2001
2001–2002
2005–2006		–	–

Source:^[9]

– = Did not participate

* = 10000 meter

Medals won

Championship	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Dutch Single Distances	11	5	3
Dutch Allround Events	7	12	7
Dutch Allround Classification	2	4	3
European Allround Events	12	8	8
European Allround Classification	6	2	2
Olympic Games	0	2	4
World Cup Events	29	20	14
World Cup Classification	6	0	4
World Single Distances	2	2	1
World Allround Events	3	8	6
World Allround Classification	4	2	3
World Junior Allround Events	0	2	0
World Junior Allround Classification	0	1	0
Total	82	68	55