Tessa van Dijk

Van Dijk was part of the KNSB Opleidingsteam of Jan van Veen. In the 2007-08 speed skating season she trained with VPZ, of Sijtje van der Lende. At the beginning of the 2008-09 speed skating season she didn't have a team. She became a member of the KNSB Regiotop.[2]

As a junior she became twice junior world champion at the 2004 and 2005 World Junior Speed Skating Championships, both in the team pursuit event.

As a senior rider, Van Dijk won the silver medal at the 2006 Dutch Allround Championships. That 2005-06 speed skating season she made her international debut at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in December 2005 in Turin. She was close to qualify for the 1000m skate-off race to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics.[3] That season she also participated at the World Cup in March 2006 in Heerenveen. At the end of the 2005-06 speed skating season, Van Dijk was a reserve rider for the 2006 World Allround Speed Skating Championships in Calgary. Due to an illness of Renate Groenewold Van Dijk participated and finished 8th overall, riding a personal record at every distance.[4] She also competed at other international competitions, including at.[4] The next season she won the silver medal at the 2007 KNSB Dutch Single Distance Championships in the 5000m event.[4] Internationally she only participated at ISU Speed Skating World Cup races.

Van Dijk had to deal with injuries. Later it turned out that her hip was tilted due to a fall caused by Sanne van der Star during the 2007 Dutch Sprint Championships. On 20 February 2009, she announced that she would retire because she was not motivated to continue training without a team.[5]