Jorrit Bergsma Wiki: 5 Facts To Know About 2018 Olympics Silver Medalist Skater

Jorrit Bergsma is a Dutch speed skater born in 1986. Bergsma is a speed skater and a marathon skater. At the 2014 Winter Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m. Bergsma is married to American speed skater Heather Bergsma. Jorrit Bergsma married U.S. Olympic speed skater Heather Bergsma (earlier Richardson) in 2015. They started dating in 2011 when they met during that season’s World Cup competitions, and became engaged in 2013. After the Sochi Olympics, Heather moved to the Netherlands to live with Jorrit Bergsma in his hometown of Aldeboarn. They now train together as members of a Dutch professional team sponsored by Clafis Engineering. They have a Japanese Spitz dog named Yuki and both enjoy cycling and sailing together. For the last three years, Netherlands has been their home. They have been trotting the globe according to their competition requirements. The couple lives in Aldeboarn which is a small city a little away from the city of Heerenveen. They skate for a living and also because they are quite passionate about skating. “It’s always packed. Always. Thousands of fans,” Heather said in an interview when asked about her experience at speed skating, “It’s loud, which makes it fun. At World Cups, sometimes, there’s barely anyone at these huge rinks. It’s so quiet and still, and you can hear your skates. You get used to that, and then you go home and it’s like the Olympics. It’s so loud you can’t even hear your clap-skates. It’s just a different atmosphere. I like the noise.” Jorrit grew up in the sport and is accustomed to the crowds. On being asked about his views on skating, he said that it is the second most popular sport in Netherlands after Soccer. He added, “Skating in the Netherlands is … like basketball over here,” he said. “If I would be a good basketball player in the Netherlands, I would want to go play in America because the level is so high. That’s skating for the Netherlands." Jorrit Bergsma enjoys sailing apart from skating. The athlete can speak Dutch, English and Frisian languages. He trained under coach Jillert Anema from Netherlands. His wife Heather Bergsma represented the United States of America in speed skating at the 2014 and 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Bergsma has competed in marathon skating and was Dutch national champion in 2010 and 2012. He was forced to retire from a 100 km inline skating race in August 2017 after suffering knee and elbow injuries in a fall. In January 2013 he had required four stitches in his eyebrow after colliding with another skater during training and hitting his head on the ice. Bergsma first tried the sport on natural ice in Aldeboarn, Netherlands. He began skating indoors in 1993 in Thialf, Netherlands. His father got him involved in the sport. His most memorable achievement was winning gold in the 10,000 m at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. He regards his father as his greatest influence. He skates with passion and believes in the philosophy, "Work hard, believe in yourself and enjoy." In 2009 he and four other Dutch skaters announced they would begin competing for Kazakhstan in an attempt to qualify for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. The group of five skaters abandoned the plan after they got to know that they would have to give up their Dutch citizenship if they were to switch nationalities. Bergsma specializes in the longest distances on the Olympic and world championships programs, with all, but one of his world and Olympic medals was earned in either the 5000m or 10,000m. As his signature style, he also excels in even longer races like speed skating marathons, which are often held outside on canals or lakes. He raced 100km (62 miles) to become the Dutch national marathon champion in 2010 and 2012, and won a race called the Alternative Elfstedentocht that's 200km (124 miles) long in 2010.

Bergsma has been skating for the BAM team since the 2010–11 season. In 2009, Bergsma won his first skating match which was a skating Marathon, the DSB Bank Cup. During the 2009–10 season he tried to qualify for the Olympic Games for Kazakhstan. During the national championships in the Russian Chelyabinsk, Bergsma won the 5000 m and qualified for the World Cup. Later, Bergsma decided to end his Kazakh adventure. Later in the season he won the Alternatieve Elfstedentocht in Austria also. Bergsma won the Dutch Marathon Championships in 2010. In2010 he won the Ronde van Duurswold, the first edition of this classic on natural ice. In 2012 he won the Dutch Marathon Championships on natural ice for the second time. He earned the Dutch 5000 m champion title at the Dutch Single Distance Championships in November 2011. During the first World Cup in Chelyabinsk, he won the 5000 m setting a new rink record. At the 2014 Winter Olympics, Bergsma won gold medal in the 10,000 m. Bergsma also won bronze medal in the 5000 m. At the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Bergsma won silver medal in the 10,000 m.

The net worth of the marathon skater is currently unavailable.

Jorrit Bergsma is active on his Twitter handle @JorritBergsma. One can follow him on his Twitter handle to see his recent photos and read his opinions.