Atje Keulen-Deelstra

Atje Keulen-Deelstra (1972)

Atje Keulen-Deelstra (born December 31, 1938 in Grouw , Boarnsterhim municipality ; † February 22, 2013 in Leeuwarden ) was a Dutch speed skater who only made her international breakthrough at the relatively old age of 30. She was four times world champion and three times European champion in all around.

biography

At the age of 16 she won the junior short course championship of the province of Friesland as Atje Deelstra. At the time she did a lot of sporting activities, but preferred speed skating. In 1962 she married Jelle Keulen and the couple had three children between 1963 and 1966. Her sporting career seemed to be over.

Nevertheless, she began training again in 1967, even if she was repeatedly told that she was now too old for high-performance sport. She did not get a place in the national team at first, but that did not prevent her from winning the Dutch all-around championship in 1970 and leaving greats like Ans Schut and Stien Kaiser behind. In the same year he won the all- around world championship held in West Allis . The year 1970 was crowned with the election of the Dutch Sportswoman of the Year.

In 1972, 1973 and 1974 she won the Dutch, European and World Championships in all-around competitions, and at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo she won the bronze medal in the 1,500 m and 3,000 m and the silver medal in the 1,000 m. In 1975 she switched to the ice-skating marathon, where she won the Dutch championship four times, the last time in 1980 as a 42-year-old.

Shortly after sustaining injuries in a traffic accident in 1997, she took part in the Elfstedentocht .

Her daughter Boukje Keulen also became a speed skater.

Web links

Commons : Atje Keulen-Deelstra  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Atje Keulen-Deelstra in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Atje Keulen-Deelstra at SkateResults.com
• Statistics at speed skating news