Ard Schenk

Ard Schenk is a former speed skater from the Netherlands, born Adrianus Schenk on 16 September 1944. His first Olympic success was a silver medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics, and at the 1972 Games in Sapporo he won three gold medals, becoming, with Galina Kulakova of the Soviet Union, the most successful athlete there; a fall in the 500 m cost him a chance at all four distances. He won three consecutive World Allround Championships from 1970 to 1972, taking all four distances in 1972, a feat nobody had achieved since Ivar Ballangrud and only Eric Heiden has repeated. He broke eighteen senior world records, more than any skater before or since, and was the first to skate 10,000 m under fifteen minutes. He turned professional in 1973 and retired at thirty.