- Ireen Wüst
Infobox Speed Skater
name = Ireen Wüst
nickname =
imagesize = 250px
caption = Ireen Wüst
country =Netherlands
club =
birth_date =April 1 ,1986
birth_place =Goirle ,Netherlands
death_date =
death_place =
height =
weight =
turnedpro =2005
retired =
pb =
website = [http://www.ireenwust.nl www.ireenwust.nl]
medaltemplates =Ireen Wüst (born
April 1 ,1986 inGoirle ,Noord-Brabant ) is a Dutch long track allround speed skater. OnFebruary 12 ,2006 , the 19-year old Wüst won the gold medal in the2006 Winter Olympic Games 3000-meter event. She is the youngest Dutch Olympic champion in Winter Games history.kating Career
Wüst debuted at the
2004 KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships in november2003 with 9th places in 500 m and 1500 m. Af the end of the season she won the silver medal in the world junior championships inRoseville, Minnesota , USA. The next season she qualified for the2004-05 Speed Skating World Cup during the2005 KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships with a fifth place in the 1000 m and 4th place in the 1500 m. With a 3rd place at the2005 KNSB Dutch Allround Championships she qualified for her first international senior tournamen, the 2005 European Championships in Heerenveen. There she ended 4th and secured herself a sport in the dutch team for the 2005 World Allround Championships inMoscow ,Russia . With a 5th place she made a promising debut at the highest international level. She then became World Junior Champion inSeinäjoki ,Finland .2005/2006 season
Before the start of the season Wüst signed a deal with TVM and started training under the guidance of
Gerard Kemkers . At the2006 KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships which also served as the Olympic Trials, Wüst won all three events she started in: 1000 m, 1500 m and 3000 m which gave her a spot in the Dutch Olympic Team for the2006 Winter Olympics inTurin . Before the olympics she started in the 2006 European Championships inHamar where she won the bronze medal behindClaudia Pechstein ofGermany and teammateRenate Groenewold .At the Olympics her first distance was the 3000 m where Wüst surprisingly beat Groenewold and
Cindy Klassen ofCanada and became the youngest olympic champion from the Netherlands in the history of the Winter Olympics. She missed out the podium in the 1000 m finishing 4th. At her last event the 1500 m she won a bronze medal behind Cindy Klassen andKristina Groves of Canada. At her last event of the season the 2006 World Allround Championships, Wüst ended 4th after she had been ill a view days before the tournament.2006/2007 season
Wüst started the season with two titles and one second place at the 2007 Dutch Distance Championships. She also won the 2007 Dutch Allround Championships.The 2007 European Championships were a big disappointment for Wüst, she was comfortably leading the championships after 3 of 4 distances but was beaten by
Martina Sablikova who skated a great 5000 m. The next weekend she competed in the2007 World Sprint Speed Skating Championships inHamar receiving the silver medal again but this one she didn't expected before the start. She took her big revenge for the European Championships when she became World Allround Champion during the 2007 World Allround Championships for the homecrowd inHeerenveen . She won the2006-07 Speed Skating World Cup in the 1500 m after winning two of the six races, she also won the 1000 m during the World Cup Final inCalgary . At the 2007 World Distance Championships she won gold medals in the 1000 m, breaking the national record, and the 1500 m. With Renate Groenewold andPaulien van Deutekom she won silver in the team pursuit behind Canada.2007/2008 season
After a difficult start of the season Ireen Wust did win the European title all round in January
2008 . Her biggest concurrent this year wasPaulien van Deutekom .Martina Sablikova who won last year by a surprisingly good 5000 m, won the 5000 m this year but wasn't that big of a competition this time because she had lost too much time in the other distances. Wüst ended 2nd behind van Deutekom during the World Allround Championships inBerlin . InNagano during the 2008 World Distance Championships she won the gold medal in the team pursuit alongside Groenewold and Van Deutekom. Wüst won only one world race this season, the 1500 m in Hamar.Personal Records
External links
* [http://www.ireenwust.nl/ Official website]
* [http://www.fotos.desg.de/athletes.php?showAthletes=all&id=1364 Photos of Ireen Wüst]
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