Ed van Campen

Last updated
Ed van Campen
Figure skating career
CountryFlag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Discipline Men's singles

Edward van Campen, also spelled VanCampen [1] (born 1960, Los Angeles) [2] [3] is a former Dutch figure skater and a three-time Dutch champion.

Contents

Career

van Campen started figure skating unusually late, at age 16. [4] During his career, van Campen was a three-time Dutch champion in 1982, 1984, and 1985. [5] [6] In 1981, he was not given the Dutch title as he was the only competitor. [2] He competed at the 1982 European Championships and did unexpectedly well, placing 18th; the Dutch Ice Skating Association had not originally planned to send him to the 1982 World Championships but did so after his European Championships performance. [4]

In 1983, van Campen was recovering from a hip fracture sustained the previous season that made it difficult for him to jump triple jumps. [2] He won the Dutch championships but was not awarded the title. [7] In response to criticism that the Dutch Ice Skating Association should not spend money on him after he had very poor results that season, van Campen said that they did not financially support him, and that he had to borrow the airfare to compete at the 1983 International Challenge Cup from his family. [2]

van Campen said he finished his competitive career because the Dutch Ice Skating Association made him feel that he was "too old" to continue competing. [6] After retiring from competitive skating, he had a professional career skating with Ice Capades and coached, and he has participated in adult figure skating. [1] [5]

Personal life

van Campen had a twin brother, Renè, who also figure skated. [3] [4] Renè was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1988 and died in 1989; van Campen returned to skating afterward after a counselor asked him to consider what activities made him happiest. [4] At the 2006 Gay Games, van Campen, who is gay, [4] performed a tribute to his brother with a quilt panel he designed for the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. [5] He also participated in the 1998 Gay Games, where the figure skating event was cancelled due to a conflict with the International Skating Union, which did not recognize same-sex paired events. van Campen and other skaters held a public performance despite this. [6]

After his competitive career, he moved back to the United States. [6]

Results

International
Event19821983198419851986
World Championships 29th
European Championships 18th20th19th
National
Dutch Championships 1st1st [a] 1st1st2nd
  1. ↑ While van Campen finished in first place at the 1983 Dutch Championships, he was not named the Dutch Champion. [7]

References

  1. 1 2 Staed, Becca (July 2009). "Community spirit". Skating. p. 33. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Kunstrijden alleen voor elite" [Figure skating only for elite]. Figure skating only for elite (in Dutch). 21 November 1983. p. 21. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  3. 1 2 van Reijswijk, Arthur (9 November 1981). "Schaatsbond zet weer heer in bij kunstrijden" [Skating association puts its back into figure skating]. Leidse Courant (in Dutch). p. 20. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Stevens, Ryan (18 February 2015). "Interview with Edward Vancampen". Skate Guard Blog. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 Rohner, Lexi (October 2006). "Adult Corner". Skating. p. 27. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Openbare training' op het ijs bij wijze van demonstratie" [Public training on the ice as a demonstration]. retro.nrc.nl (in Dutch). 6 August 1998. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Nederlandse Kampioenschappen Kunstrijden Heren" [Dutch Men's Figure Skating Championships]. Dutch Ice Skating Association (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
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