Wim van der Voort

Wim van der Voort was the World's top 1500 m skater in the early 1950s. He won this distance at the European Championships 1951-1953 and the World Championships 1951-1952, earning him overall silver medals at the Europeans (1951 and 1953) and a World bronze in 1953. His second place at the European Championships was remarkable, as champion Hjalmar Andersen had fallen in the final distance for his home crowd. But the Norwegian was allowed a controversial reskate, having allegedly been distracted by a photographer's flash. At the 1952 Olympics, Van der Voort was the top favourite for the gold medal at the metric mile. Again, he was thwarted by Andersen, who would win three golds on the Bislett ice. Skating after Andersen, Van der Voort was hampered by light snow and a sub-par final lap, finishing two tenths behind the Norwegian to take a silver medal.

Personal Bests: 500 – 43.6 (1951); 1500 – 2:14.9 (1953); 5000 – 8:20.1 (1953); 10000 – 17:28.8 (1949).