Gretha Smit
Dutch speed skater
Grietje "Greta" Smit (born 20 January 1976) is a Dutch former speed skater.
Smit won a surprising silver medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics in the 5000 metre event. She skated a world record broken in a later pair by Claudia Pechstein. Prior to that season, she had not competed in long track speed skating competitions for several years, and had only taken up practice again shortly before the Dutch trials in late 2001.
However, she had been a very successful marathon skater in the years before 2002. She had become Dutch marathon skating champion on natural ice in 1995, 1998, 2000 and 2001, and on artificial ice in 1999, 2000 and 2001. During the last held Elfstedentocht in 1997 she finished second. She also won the alternative Elfstedentocht - skated in Finland - in 1998, 2000 and 2001.
Smit's two sisters, Jenita and Marianne, were also good (marathon) skaters; Jenita also took up long track skating in the 2002/2003 season.
01Personal records
| Speed skating | ||||
| Event | Result | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 m | 42:18 | 7 February 2004 | Vikingskipet, Hamar | |
| 1000 m | 1:28.94 | 26 February 2004 | Deventer | |
| 1500 m | 2:02.02 | 8 February 2004 | Hamar | |
| 3000 m | 4:03.80 | 4 March 2007 | Olympic Oval, Calgary | |
| 5000 m | 6:49.22 | 23 February 2002 | Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City | |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Gretha Smit”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- GrethaSmitOlympicGames2002.jpg by Unknown photographer, CC BY 3.0
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