Van Gennip, Yvonne

Yvonne van Gennip, (born May 1, 1964, Haarlem, Netherlands), Dutch athlete who was considered the greatest speed skater from the Netherlands since Ard Schenk. She won three Olympic gold medals in 1988.

At the start of the 1988 Games in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, much of the attention in the women’s speed-skating competition was focused on the East German team, which had dominated at the previous Olympics, capturing 9 of the 12 medals in the sport. Van Gennip, a former medical student, had won the 1,500-metre and the 3,000-metre World Cup titles in 1987, but foot surgery several months prior to the Games had lessened her hopes of a medal at Calgary. However, she turned in a stunning performance, capturing the gold medals in the 1,500-, 3,000-, and 5,000-metre races, all in Olympic record times. In the 5,000-metre event van Gennip also set a world record (7 min 14.13 sec), finishing an incredible 2.99 seconds ahead of Andrea Mitscherlich-Ehrig, who had earlier set a world record. Van Gennip credited American Bonnie Blair’s defeat of the East Germans in the 500-metre event as her inspiration.

Van Gennip achieved star status in the Netherlands, with some 60,000 fans turning out to welcome her home. She competed at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, but failed to earn a medal.