Falko Zandstra

Falko Zandstra
Personal information
Nationality	Dutch
Born	(1971-12-27) 27 December 1971 (age 52) Heerenveen, Netherlands
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)
Sport
Country	Netherlands
Sport	Speed skating
Turned pro	1990
Retired	1998
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	500 m: 37.89 (1994) 1000 m: 1:13.98 (1998) 1500 m: 1:50.90 (1997) 3000 m: 3:57.64 (1991) 5000 m: 6:39.57 (1998) 10 000 m: 13:46.96 1993)
Medal record Men's Speed Skating Representing the  Netherlands Olympic Games 1992 Albertville 5.000m 1994 Lillehammer 1.500m World Allround Championships 1993 Hamar Allround 1992 Calgary Allround European Championships 1992 Heerenveen Allround 1993 Heerenveen Allround 1995 Heerenveen Allround 1994 Hamar Allround 1997 Heerenveen Allround World Junior Championships 1990 Obihiro Allround 1991 Calgary Allround

Falko Zandstra (born 27 December 1971) is a former Dutch speed skater. Because of his thin legs he was also called de Gespierde Spijker which translates to the Muscular Nail.

Biography

Zandstra was born in Heerenveen, Friesland. He was a natural talent who had his career peak at a very young age. In 1990 and 1991 he became junior world champion. In 1991 he won with a world record in the small combination. In his international debut year 1992 he became European Champion Allround and finished second in the World Allround Championships, after Roberto Sighel. In that season he also won the World Cup at the 1500 meters and a silver medal at the Winter Olympics in the 5000 meters. A year later, in 1993 he became World champion and European champion again.

From 1994 on, his career went downwards. At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer he won the bronze medal in the 1500 meters and finished fourth in the 5000 and 10000 meters. He also won the 1500 meters World Cup again. In 1995 he finished second in the European championships. At the World championships that year, he fell during the 1500 meters when he threw his arm band (which is used to indicate in which lane a skater has started) over his own skate. Because of this he didn't qualify for the 10,000 meters.

For 49 days, from 23 January until 13 March 1993, Falko Zandstra was the leader in the Adelskalender.

After his career, Zandstra switched to marathon skating with little success and he quit skating in 1999. Today he runs his own company in roof and wall plating called Falko Dak & Wand in Heerenveen. He is married to former Dutch speed skater Ellen Linnenbank.

World records

In the course of his career, Zandstra skated nine world records, of which six were junior world records:

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com^[1]

Personal records

Source: www.isu.org^[2]

Tournament overview

Season	Dutch Championships Sprint	Dutch Championships Single Distances	Dutch Championships Allround	European Championships Allround	Olympic Games	World Championships Allround	World Championships Junior Allround
1988–89		HEERENVEEN 12th 1500m
1989–90	ASSEN 11th 500m 1000m 8th 500m 1000m 5th overall	HEERENVEEN 8th 500m 4th 1000m 11th 1500m 5000m					OBIHIRO 7th 500m 3000m 1500m 5000m overall
1990–91			ALKMAAR 6th 500m 6th 5000m 11th 1500m 7th 10000m 5th overall				CALGARY 500m 3000m 1500m 5000m overall
1991–92		HEERENVEEN 1000m 1500m 5th 5000m 4th 10000m	ALKMAAR 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall	HEERENVEEN 5th 500m 4th 5000m 1500m 10000m overall	ALBERTVILLE 10th 1000m 7th 1500m 5000m	CALGARY 7th 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall
1992–93		DEVENTER NC 500m 1500m 5000m 10000m	ASSEN 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall	HEERENVEEN 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall		HAMAR ♦4th 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall
1993–94		HEERENVEEN 4th 1500m 5000m 10000m	THE HAGUE 500m 6th 5000m 5th 1500m 5th 10000m 4th overall	HAMAR 4th 500m 5000m 1500m 5th 10000m overall	LILLEHAMMER 1500m 4th 5000m 4th 10000m
1994–95		THE HAGUE 1500m 5000m 10000m	ASSEN 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall	HEERENVEEN 4th 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m overall		BASELGA di PINÈ 7th 500m 15th 5000m 35th 1500m DNQ 10000m NC overall(26th)
1995–96			THE HAGUE 5th 500m 5th 5000m 5th 1500m 4th 10000m 4th overall
1996–97			ASSEN 4th 500m 5000m 4th 1500m 10000m overall	HEERENVEEN 4th 500m 5th 5000m 1500m 5th 10000m overall		NAGANO 12th 500m 22nd 5000m 15th 1500m DNQ 10000m NC overall(14th)
1997–98		HEERENVEEN 7th 1500m 5th 5000m 10000m	DEVENTER 24th 500m 5000m 1500m 10000m 11th overall	HELSINKI 5th 500m 9th 5000m 8th 1500m 8th 10000m 5th overall

DNQ = Did not qualify for the final event

NC = No classification

source:^{[3] [4]}

Medals won

Championship	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Dutch Allround	3	1	0
European Allround	2	1	2
World Allround	1	1	0
World Junior Allround	2	0	0
Olympic Games	0	1	1