Stefan Groothuis

Stefan Groothuis (Empe, November 23, 1981) is a Dutch speed skater who is currently part of Team Telfort.

Groothuis is a specialist in the middle distances, 1000 and 1500 metres and had his international breakthrough in 2005. In that year he reached a second spot during the Speed Skating World Cup meeting in Salt Lake City over 1000 metres. This earned him a nomination for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. During the Dutch Single Distance Championships in December 2005 he switched this nomination into a qualification by becoming fourth behind Jan Bos, Erben Wennemars and Beorn Nijenhuis who all qualified as well.

In January 2006 Groothuis surprised by becoming the Dutch national sprint champion finishing in first position after two races over 500 metres as well as two over 1000 metres, outsprinting common names like Gerard van Velde, Nijenhuis and Wennemars. A month later at the 2006 Winter Olympics Groothuis would finish in 8th position over 1000 metres. His time of 1:09.57 was 0.68 behind on winner Shani Davis.

Personal records

* 500m : 35.88, March 23, 2003 in Calgary
* 1000m : 1:07.69, November 19, 2005 in Salt Lake City
* 1500m : 1:43.98, March 4, 2007 in Calgary
* 3000m : 3:53.72, March 16, 2001 in Calgary
* 5000m : 6:54.59, March 20, 2002 in Calgary
* 10000m : 14:41.70, March 21, 2002 in Calgary

Career highlights

* 2001, 6th at the Junior World Championships
* 2002, 6th over 1000 metres at the Dutch National Single Distance Championships
* 2002, 7th at the Dutch National Sprint Championships
* 2003, 4th over 1000 metres and 8th over 500 metres at the Dutch National Single Distance Championships
* 2003, 6th at the Dutch National Sprint Championships
* 2004, 6th over 500 metres and 9th over 1000 metres at the Dutch National Single Distance Championships
* 2004, 8th at the Dutch National Sprint Championships
* 2005, 5th over 1500 metres, 6th over 500 metres and 7th over 1000 metres at the Dutch National Single Distance Championships
* 2005, 4th at the Dutch National Sprint Championships
* 2006, 4th over 1000 metres and 8th over 1500 metres at the Dutch National Single Distance Championships
* 2006, 1st at the Dutch National Sprint Championships
* 2006, 8th over 1000 metres at the 2006 Winter Olympics
* 2006, 9th overall at the 1000 metres World Cup
* 2007, 2nd over 1000 metres, 6th over 500 metres and 8th over 1500 metres at the Dutch National Single Distance Championships

External links

* [http://www.skateresults.com/skater/show/1362 www.skateresults.com]
* [http://www.sskating.com/index.php?name=GROOTHUIS&fname=Stefan&nat=NED www.sskating.com]
* [http://www.sportstatistieken.nl/schaatsen/ www.sportstatistieken.nl]
* [http://www.fotos.desg.de/athletes.php?showAthletes=all&id=437 Fotos von Stefan Groothuis]