Yvonne van Gennip

Yvonne van Gennip is a Dutch allround speed skater, born Yvonne Maria Therese van Gennip in Haarlem on 1 May 1964, and one of the most successful Dutch women in the sport. Her great success came at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, where, with a foot she had injured and operated on less than two months earlier and with the East German women heavily favoured, she unexpectedly won three gold medals. She broke the world record by almost five seconds to win the 3000 m, beat her personal best by almost four seconds in the 1500 m and was almost seven seconds faster than her own world record in the 5000 m. She was the most successful athlete of those Games alongside Matti Nykänen of Finland. She also skated at the 1984 and 1992 Winter Olympics without a medal, and won a World Championship silver in 1988.