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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Dutch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 9 March 2003 Culemborg, Netherlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Netherlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Short track speed skating | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Michelle Velzeboer (born 9 March 2003) is a short track speed skater from the Netherlands. She is member of the Dutch team that won the 3000 meter relay event at the World Championships in 2023 and 2024.
Michelle is the second child of Mark Velzeboer and his wife Carianne. Her older sister Xandra Velzeboer and her aunts Simone and Monique are also short track speed skaters. [1] Velzeboer started short track speed skating at age 6, with her father as the trainer. [2] She studies psychology at the Open Universiteit. [3]
Velzeboer participated in the 2020 Youth Olympic Games and the 2022 World Junior Championships.
In 2022 she was selected for the Dutch national team. In 2023 and 2024 Velzeboer was part of the relay team that won the gold medal at the World Championships.
In 2025 Velzeboer became Dutch national champion at the 500, 1000 and 1500 meters. [4]
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. In the Olympic Games, long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just "speed skating", while short-track speed skating is known as "short track". The International Skating Union (ISU), the governing body of competitive ice sports, refers to long track as "speed skating" and short track as "short track skating". Long track speed skating takes place on a 400m ice track, while short track takes place on a 111m track.
Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters skate on an oval ice track with a length of 111.111 metres (364.54 ft). The rink itself is 60 metres (196.85 ft) long by 30 metres (98.43 ft) wide, which is the same size as an Olympic-sized figure skating rink and an international-sized ice hockey rink. Related sports include long-track speed skating and inline speed skating.
Maria Aaltje ("Marianne") Timmer is a Dutch former speed skater specializing in the middle distances. At the 1998 Winter Olympics Timmer won a gold medal in both these events.
Annita van Doorn is a Dutch Short track speed skater. She made her international debut in 2003 at the World Championships for teams. Van Doorn was the first Dutch short track speed skater with a victory on a World Cup distance. She took a lap on her competitors on the 3000 meters and won the super final, surprisingly, at her second World Cup competition. In 2008, she became European Champion in the 500 meters in Ventspils, Latvia. In the overall classification she ended as 5th. She won bronze medals at the European Championships with the relay team in 2007, 2009 en 2010. In 2009 Van Doorn won her first Dutch title.
Jorien ter Mors is a retired Dutch speed skater on both short track and long track. She was the Olympic champion in the 1500 metres and team pursuit at the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 1000 metres at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Lara Victoria van Ruijven was a Dutch short track speed skater. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, she was part of the Dutch 3000 metres relay team that won a bronze medal. She won gold at the World Championships one year later. By doing so, she became the first Dutch woman to win a world short track title at an individual event.
Yara van Kerkhof is a Dutch short track speed skater. She won the silver medal in the 500 m event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Naomi Sedney is a Dutch sprinter. She has been most successful as the anchor of the Dutch Relay team and is co-holder of the national record 4 x 100 m relay. In 2022 her younger sister Zoë Sedney joined her in the Dutch Relay team.
The Netherlands competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, between 9 and 25 February 2018. Speed skater Jan Smeekens was appointed as flag bearer for the opening ceremony, which was attended by King Willem Alexander, Queen Máxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also observed the sporting events that featured Dutch competitors.
Suzanne Schulting is a Dutch short track speed skater who is also active as a long track speed skater. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, she won the Netherlands' first-ever gold medal in short track speed skating and became one of the youngest-ever Dutch Winter Olympic champions. She is also a two-time overall World Champion and three-time overall European Champion, and the current world record holder for 1000m.
Jutta Monica Leerdam is a Dutch speed skater specializing in long-track sprint events. She is the 2022 World Sprint Champion in the 500 and 1000 metres combined.
Zoë Frederique Sedney is a Dutch athlete who competes in the hurdles, 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay. Sedney won two gold medals at the 2017 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival. As a senior in 2021, she competed in both the European Indoor Championships and the Summer Olympics. In 2022, she became part of the 4 × 100 metres Dutch relay team, competing together with her older sister Naomi Sedney.
Selma Poutsma is a Dutch short track speed skater who previously competed for France.
The women's 3000 metre relay competition in short track speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 9 February (semifinals) and 13 February (finals), at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. The event was won by Suzanne Schulting, Selma Poutsma, Xandra Velzeboer, and Yara van Kerkhof, representing the Netherlands. They set a new Olympic record in Final A. It was the first time a European team won the event. South Korea won silver, and China bronze.
Xandra Velzeboer is a Dutch short track speed skater. Velzeboer was a member of the gold-medal-winning 3,000 metre relay women's short track team at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She is the older sister of Michelle Velzeboer, also a short track speed skater, who won the silver medal in the girls' 500 metres at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics.
Kristen Santos-Griswold is an American short-track speed skater.
Cathelijn Peeters is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in hurdling and sprinting and previously competed in the combined events and hammer throw. Peeters specializes in the 400 metres hurdles and in the 400 metres. In the 4 × 400 metres relay, she is the 2023 World Champion and the 2024 World Indoor Champion with the Dutch women's team and the 2024 Olympic Champion with the Dutch mixed team.
Tasa Jiya is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter. In 2023, she became the Dutch national champion over 200 metres. She won a bronze medal in the women's 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2024 European Athletics Championships.
Angel Mila Diana Daleman is a Dutch speed skater who competes in both short track speed skating and long track speed skating.
Diede van Oorschot is a Dutch short track speed skater. She was part of the Dutch relay team at the 2024 European Championships that obtained a gold medal.
