Ard Schenk - Biography

Biography

In the early 1970s Schenk dominated international speed skating. His career peaked in 1972, when in addition to winning three gold medals during the Olympic Games in Sapporo (a fall on the 500 m caused him to miss the opportunity to win gold in all 4 distances), he also won the European Allround and the World Allround Championships. He became World Allround Champion by winning all 4 distances, a feat that nobody had performed since Ivar Ballangrud 40 years earlier. In addition, he won bronze that year at the World Sprint Championships. By the end of the season, he held all world records except for the 500 m. The next season (1973), he turned professional with a number of other prominent speed skaters, thereby foregoing the opportunity of winning more championships. The professional circuit lasted two seasons and Schenk retired from speed skating at the relatively young age of 30.

Throughout his career he broke 18 world records (just like Gunda Niemann did later), a feat no skater before or after him has bettered. He was the first to skate the 10000 meters under 15 minutes, and the first skater to finish the 1,500 meters in less than 2 minutes. He was also the first person to skate the 1000 meters below 1:19.0 and the first to skate that distance on a lowland rink below 1:20.0. Would the 1000 meters have been included during the 1972 Olympics, Schenk for sure was a candidate for the gold medal. He won the 1000 meters five times during a World Sprint Championship out of the six times he skated that distance on that tournament (the first two of which were called ISU Championship Sprint).