Falko Zandstra

Falko Zandstra

250px Falko Zandstra
Personal information
Nationality	Dutch
Born	(1971-12-27) 27 December 1971 Heerenveen, Netherlands
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)
Sport
Country	Netherlands
Sport	Speed skating
Turned pro	1990
Retired	1998
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	500 m: 37.89 (1994) 1000 m: 1:13.98 (1998) 1500 m: 1:50.90 (1997) 3000 m: 3:57.64 (1991) 5000 m: 6:39.57 (1998) 10 000 m: 13:46.96 1993)
Medal record Men's Speed Skating Representing the Netherlands Olympic Games 1992 Albertville 5.000m 1994 Lillehammer 1.500m World Allround Championships 1993 Hamar Allround 1992 Calgary Allround European Championships 1992 Heerenveen Allround 1993 Heerenveen Allround 1995 Heerenveen Allround 1994 Hamar Allround 1997 Heerenveen Allround World Junior Championships 1990 Obihiro Allround 1991 Calgary Allround

Falko Zandstra (born 27 December 1971) is a former Dutch speed skater. Because of his thin legs he was also called de Gespierde Spijker which translates to the Muscular Nail.

Biography

Zandstra was born in Heerenveen, Friesland. He was a natural talent who had his career peak at a very young age. In 1990 and 1991 he became junior world champion. In 1991 he won with a world record in the small combination. In his international debut year 1992 he became European Champion Allround and finished second in the World Allround Championships, after Roberto Sighel. In that season he also won the World Cup at the 1500 meters and a silver medal at the Winter Olympics in the 5000 meters. A year later, in 1993 he became World champion and European champion again.

From 1994 on, his career went downwards. At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer he won the bronze medal in the 1500 meters and finished fourth in the 5000 and 10000 meters. He also won the 1500 meters World Cup again. In 1995 he finished second in the European championships. At the World championships that year, he fell during the 1500 meters when he threw his arm band (which is used to indicate in which lane a skater has started) over his own skate. Because of this he didn't qualify for the 10,000 meters.

For 49 days, from January 23 until March 13, 1993, Falko Zandstra was the leader in the Adelskalender.

After his career, Zandstra switched to marathon skating with little success and he quit skating in 1999. Today he runs his own company in roof and wall plating called Falko Dak & Wand in Heerenveen. He is married to former Dutch speed skater Ellen Linnenbank.

Records

World records

In the course of his career, Zandstra skated nine world records, of which six were junior world records:

Event	Time	Date	Venue
3000 m junior	4.02,10	13 March 1990	Heerenveen
Small combination junior	159.753	17 February 1991	Heerenveen
Small combination	159.753	17 February 1991	Heerenveen
3000 m junior	3.57,64	1 March 1991	Calgary
1500 m junior	1.53,26	2 March 1991	Calgary
5000 m junior	6.47,10	3 March 1991	Calgary
Small combination junior	156.059	3 March 1991	Calgary
Small combination	156.059	3 March 1991	Calgary
Big combination	156.882	23 January 1993	Heerenveen

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

Personal records

Personal records
Men's Speed skating
Event	Result	Date	Location	Notes
500m	37.89	1994-01-07	Vikingskipetl, Hamar
1,000m	1:13.98	1998-01-05	Thialf, Heerenveen
1,500m	1:50.90	1997-12-20	Thialf, Heerenveen
3,000m	3:57.90	1991-01-03	Olympic Oval, Calgary
5,000m	6:39.57	1997-12-18	Thialf, Heerenveen
10,000m	13:46.96	1993-01-21	Thialf, Heerenveen

Source: www.isu.org

External links

• Falko Zandstra at SpeedSkatingStats.com
• Website of Falko Zandstra's company

Awards
Preceded by Bonnie Blair	Oscar Mathisen Award 1993	Succeeded by Johann Olav Koss
Preceded by Bart Veldkamp	Dutch Sportsman of the Year 1993	Succeeded by Regilio Tuur
Preceded by Dries van Wijhe	Ard Schenk Award 1992, 1993	Succeeded by Rintje Ritsma