Piet Kleine

Pieter "Piet" Kleine (born 17 September 1951) is a former speed skater from the Netherlands who specialized in the longer distances.

Piet Kleine
Piet Kleine in 2006
Personal information
Born (1951-09-17) 17 September 1951
Hollandscheveld, Netherlands
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight86 kg (190 lb)
Sport
CountryNetherlands
SportSpeed skating
Turned pro1973
Retired1981
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)500 m: 40.10 (1981)
1000 m: 1:17.35 (1981)
1500 m: 1:56.28 (1976)
3000 m: 4:08.86 (1981)
5000 m: 7:02.38 1976)
10 000 m: 14:36.03 (1980)

Short biography

At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Piet Kleine became Olympic Champion on the 10,000 m, beating world record holder Sten Stensen who won silver in a close race. This was a reversal of the roles in the Olympic 5,000 m (which had been held three days earlier), in which Stensen had won gold and Kleine silver. In both the 5,000 m and the 10,000 m, Dutch later French speed skater Hans van Helden (then world record holder on the 5,000 m) won bronze. Later that same year (1976), Kleine broke 4 worlds records (including Van Helden's 5,000 m world record) and also became World Allround Champion.

Kleine participated again in the Winter Olympics of Lake Placid (1980), winning Olympic silver on the 10,000 m behind Eric Heiden. He ended his career as a speed skater in 1981 and started a successful career in amateur bicycle racing. In 1985, as a member of the Dutch national team, he finished 5th at the World Championships on the 100 km team time trial.

In 1986, Kleine became a marathon skater. This led to some controversy in 1997 when he finished 5th in the Elfstedentocht, but was subsequently removed from the final list of results because of a missing stamp on his stamp card. The controversy lay in the fact that, afterwards, it became clear that in the past several winners of the Elfstedentocht had missed stamps too, but were still declared the winners.

Kleine ended his skating career in 2001 and continued his profession as a postman, a profession he had always kept alongside his sports careers. In his free time, Kleine is the leader of a team of marathon skaters.

He later coached Dan Jansen.

Records

World records

Over the course of his career, Kleine skated 4 world records:

DisciplineResultDateLocationNote
5000 meter7:04.865 March 1976InzellWorld record until 12 March 1976
5000 meter7:02.3812 March 1976InzellWorld record until 19 March 1976
10000 meter14:43.9213 March 1976} InzellWorld record until 21 March 1976
Big combination165.88413 March 1976InzellWorld record until 20 March 1977

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com[1]

Personal records

Personal records
Men's Speed skating
Event Result Date Location Notes
500 meter 40.10 30 January 1981 Davos
1000 meter 1:17.35 30 January 1981 Davos
1500 meter 1:56.28 13 March 1976 Inzell
3000 meter 4:08.86 26 February 1981 Inzell
5000 meter 7:02.38 12 March 1976 Inzell
10000 meter 14:36.03 23 February 1980 Lake Placid
Big combination 165.884 13 March 1976 Inzell

Kleine has an Adelskalender score of 164.899 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was 2nd place.

Tournament overview

Season Dutch
Championships
Allround
European
Championships
Allround
Olympic
Games
World
Championships
Allround
1970–197111th 500m
9th 5000m
8th 1500m
9th 10000m
8th overall
1971–19728th 500m
10th 5000m
10th 1500m
9th 10000m
8th overall

1972–1973

5th 500m
5000m
1500m
4th 10000m
overall
GRENOBLE
20th 500m
6th 5000m
1500m
4th 10000m
5th overall
DEVENTER

8th 500m
4th 5000m
1500m
10000m
overall

1973–1974

6th 500m
5000m
1500m
10000m
overall
ESTKILSTUMA

DQ 500m
10th 5000m
8th 1500m
DQ 10000m
DQ overall
INZELL

24th 500m
10th 5000m
7th 1500m
8th 10000m
10th overall

1974–1975

13th 500m
5000m
4th 1500m
10000m
overall
THIALF

14th 500m
5000m
10th 1500m
4th 10000m
overall
OSLO

25th 500m
10th 5000m
13th 1500m
5th 10000m
13th overall

1975–1976

4th 500m
5000m
1500m
10000m
overall
OSLO

14th 500m
8th 5000m
9th 1500m
7th 10000m
8th overall
INNSBRUCK

18th 1000m
6e 1500m
5000m
10000m
INZELL

12th 500m
5000m
1500m
10000m
overall

1976–1977

8th 500m
5000m
1500m
10000m
overall
LARVIK

22nd 500m
5000m
9th 1500m
10000m
7th overall
THIALF

19th 500m
7th 5000m
6th 1500m
5th 10000m
8th overall

1997–1978

9h 500m
5000m
1500m
10000m
overall
OSLO

20th 500m
4th 5000m
10th 1500m
4th 10000m
9th overall
GOTHENBURG

22nd 500m
5000m
11th 1500m
7th 10000m
10th overall

1978–1979
DEVENTER

13th 500m
5000m
10th 1500m
10000m
5th overall
OSLO

21st 500m
9th 5000m
13th 1500m
10th10000m
13th overall

1979–1980

11th 500m
5000m
5th 1500m
10000m
overall
TRONDHEIM

15th 500m
7th 5000m
12th 1500m
7th 10000m
12th overall
LAKE PLACID

6th 5000m
10.000m
THIALF

17th 500m
7th 5000m
9th 1500m
11th 10000m
9th overall

1980–1981

7th 500m
5000m
1500m
10000m
overall
DEVENTER

18h 500m
4th 5000m
10th 1500m
10000m
8th overall
OSLO

27th 500m
5000m
12th 1500m
7th 10000m
10th overall

Medals won

ChampionshipGold Silver Bronze
Olympic Games
1
2
0
World Allround
1
0
1
European Allround
0
0
1
Dutch Allround
1
6
1

Medals

An overview of medals won by Kleine at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:

Championship Gold SilverBronze
Olympics Games1976 (10000 m)1976 (5000 m)
1980 (10000 m)
World Allround19761973
European Allround1975
Dutch Allround19781973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1981
1980

References

  1. "Piet Kleine". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
Awards
Preceded by
Jos Hermens
Dutch Sportsman of the Year
1976
Succeeded by
Hennie Kuiper
Olympic Games
Preceded by
Dianne de Leeuw
Flagbearer for  Netherlands
Lake Placid 1980
Succeeded by
Hilbert van der Duim
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