Paulien van Deutekom
Encyclopedia
Paulien van Deutekom is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 speed skater
Speed skating
Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...

 who is specialised in the middle long distances, over 1000 and 1500 metres.

In November 2005 Van Deutekom surprised when she skated among the best at the Speed Skating World Cup
Speed Skating World Cup
The Speed Skating World Cup is a series of international speed skating competitions, organised yearly by the International Skating Union since the winter of 1985–86. Every year during the winter, a number of competitions on a number of different distances are held...

 qualification tournament at several distances and as a result qualified herself to participate in those World Cups. During her first ever World Cup meeting in the Olympic Oval
Olympic Oval
The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus...

 in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

 she skated a new Dutch record over 1500 metres, skating 1:55.43, overtaking the record from Annamarie Thomas
Annamarie Thomas
Annamarie Thomas is a former Dutch speed skater.-Biography:Thomas was an allround speed skater, but favored the shorter distances. The years 1995 and 1996 found her at her peak: in both those years she was Dutch allround champion as well as Dutch sprint champion and came in second at the European...

. A week later, Ireen Wüst
Ireen Wüst
Ireen Wüst is a Dutch long track allround speed skater. At the age of 19, on February 12, 2006, Wüst won the gold medal in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games 3000-meter event...

 would skate 1:54,93 which meant Van Deutekom had lost her record already.

Later, in December 2005 she participated at the 2005 Dutch Single Distance Championships, which was also the venue for Olympic Qualification. At the 1500 metres distance she finished in second position and qualified for the 2006 Winter Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...

. She also had chances over 1000 metres, however only finished in fourth position and did not directly qualify. A skate-off between her and Barbara de Loor
Barbara de Loor
Barbara de Loor is a retired Dutch speed skater who was specialised in the middle long and longer distances, over 1000 to 5000 metres....

 made the decision in De Loor's favour. She also was selected to be part of the pursuit team. At the Olympics itself Van Deutekom finished as 13th over 1500 metres, while the team pursuit team was eliminated at an early stage.

On the European Championships Allround in January 2008 she became second after her teammate Ireen Wüst
Ireen Wüst
Ireen Wüst is a Dutch long track allround speed skater. At the age of 19, on February 12, 2006, Wüst won the gold medal in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games 3000-meter event...

. In February 2008 Van Deutekom won the World Allround Speed Skating Championships
World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women
The International Skating Union has organised the World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women since 1936. Unofficial Championships were held in the years 1933-1935.-Distances used:...

 in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

.

In March 2008 Van Deutekom finished second at the World Single Distance Championships
World Single Distance Championships for Women
The International Skating Union has organised the World Single Distance Championships for Women since 1996.-Locations:* 1996 Hamar, Norway* 1997 Warsaw, Poland* 1998 Calgary, Canada* 1999 Heerenveen, Netherlands* 2000 Nagano, Japan...

 in Nagano
M-Wave
is an indoor sporting arena located in Nagano, Japan.Opened in 1996, the arena has a capacity of 10,000. It hosted the speed skating events of the 1998 Winter Olympics. The M-Wave is equipped with movable stands and an automatically winding artificial lawn machine...

 on the 1500 meters and the 3000 meters.

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