Robert Rintje Ritsma (Lemmer, 13 April 1970), also known by his nickname ‘The Bear of Lemmer’, was a successful Dutch long-track speed skater. Ritsma became World Allround Champion four times, in 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2001. He was also European Allround Champion six times, sharing the record with Sven Kramer.
Olympic Games and Speed Skating
At the 1994, 1998 and 2006 Winter Olympics, he won a total of two silver and four bronze medals. On 27 September 2008, the Dutch Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BSBN) presented Ritsma as team manager in Papendal. He remained team manager of Team NL’s Dutch bobsleigh and skeleton team through the 2010 Winter Olympics. He took on the role together with coaches from Eurotech, a company specialising in machinery and equipment manufacturing. On 4 October 2011, it was announced that Ritsma would become an ambassador for iSkate, where he was involved in the further development of the BGG skating academy, in which APPM and Team Anker would collaborate. From the 2013/2014 season onwards, Jan Ykema was joined by Ritsma, who completed an internship with Gewest Friesland as part of his coaching qualification.
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Extreme Skating Competitions
On 11 December 2011, Ritsma announced that he would participate in the extreme skating competition Crashed Ice in Valkenburg in early February. In January 2011, he had already participated alongside Gerard van Velde, Annemarie Thomas and Falko Zandstra. This time, he trained individually under the guidance of Ab Krook and assistant coach Zandstra. He managed to place among the top 64 skaters, securing a spot among the top 128 participants. In the first run, Ritsma recorded a time of 1:08.11, placing him in the middle of the field. In the second run, he took more risks and was four seconds faster, with a time of 1:04.33. This time qualified him in 54th place for the professional round.
As a hobby, he competed in the BMW 130i Cup and, since April 2009, has raced a 1000cc superbike motorcycle, for which he obtained his racing licence. Today, Rintje Ritsma works as a pellet stove salesperson.
