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by | Mar 16, 2018 | Hosta

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Bart Swings (born 12 February 1991) is a Belgian long track speed skater and inline speed skater.[2] He is the 2022 Olympic champion on the speed skating mass start. Swings won Belgium's first gold medal in 74 years[3] and is the first Belgian athlete ever to have won two medals in the Winter Olympics.[4] In 2023 he won the Belgian National Sports Merit Award, the highest trophy for a sportsperson or team in Belgium.[5]

Career

At his first world championship speed skating event, the 2011 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships in Inzell, Germany, he finished 17th in the 5000 m.[6]

Swings in 2012

At the 2012 World Allround Speed Skating Championships in Moscow, he finished 9th overall, with a personal record at the 500 m and a national record at the 1500 m.[7]

At the 2013 World Allround Speed Skating Championships in Hamar, he finished 3rd overall and took the Bronze medal back home to Belgium.

At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, he won a silver medal in the 1st ever Mass start at the Winter Olympics. Four years later, he won the gold medal in this event. It was Belgium's second-ever gold medal in the Winter Olympics history and the first for an individual male athlete.

At the 2019 World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships, he took the lead in the men's mass start but crashed on the final lap, costing him the podium.

At the 2021 World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships, he won bronze in the men's mass start, winning his first-ever medal in a World Single Distances Speed Skating Championship event.

At the 2022 Berlin Marathon, he crossed the finish line in 56:45 minutes and set a new course record. At the same time, he secured his eighth victory at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON inline skating.

At the World Games, he won seven medals, including four gold. He won two gold, one silver and one bronze at The World Games 2013 in Cali, Colombia and two gold and one silver at the World Games 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland.

Swings is currently studying for an engineer's degree at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.[8]

His brother Maarten Swings also competes in inline speed skating and speed skating, participating in the inline skating world championships and qualifying for the ISU Speed Skating World Cup.

Personal records

Personal records[9]
Men's speed skating
Event Result Date Location Notes
500 m 36.36 9 March 2024 Max Aicher Arena, Inzell
1000 m 1.09.28 14 November 2015 Olympic Oval, Calgary
1500 m 1:42.48 15 November 2015 Olympic Oval, Calgary Current Belgian record.[10]
3000 m 3:36.98 19 December 2020 Thialf, Heerenveen Current Belgian record.[10]
5000 m 6:08.76 3 December 2021 Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City Current Belgian record.[10]
10000 m 12:57.31 21 November 2015 Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City Current Belgian record.[10]
Team pursuit 3:45.64 16 November 2013 Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City Current Belgian record (with Ferre Spruyt and Maarten Swings).[11]

As of 23 November 2015, his highest ranking on the all-time Adelskalender is 11th.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Interview with Bart Swings, leader of Powerslide Matter World Team". OLS roller-skating magazine. online-skating.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  2. ^ "Tweede wereldtitel voor Bart Swings". Het Nieuwsblad. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  3. ^ "Winter Olympics: Belgium win first gold for 74 years". BBC News. 20 February 2022. p. 1. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Bart Swing receives his gold medal at the Winter Olympics". VRT News. 19 February 2022. p. 1. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Olympisch schaatskampioen Bart Swings krijgt dit jaar de Nationale Trofee voor Sportverdienste". Sporza. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  6. ^ Jacobs, Hans (12 March 2011). "Bart Swings maakt knap WK-debuut op ijs". Het Nieuwsblad. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  7. ^ "Bart Swings negende op WK allround, vijfde keer goud voor Kramer". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). Belga. 19 February 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  8. ^ Vandeweghe, Hans (11 March 2011). "* Sport Gevonden: Belg met schaatstalent". De Standaard. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  9. ^ "Bart Swings". speedskatingresults.com. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d "National Records – Belgium (BEL)". speedskatingresults.com. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  11. ^ "België met nieuwe recordtijd elfde in ploegenachtervolging". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). Belga. 17 November 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  12. ^ Stenlund, Evert. "Adel". Retrieved 23 November 2015.

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