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| Born | (1979-08-12)August 12, 1979 (age 46) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 71 kg (157 lb; 11.2 st) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country |  Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Speed skating | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Cindy Klassen,OM (born August 12, 1979) is aCanadian retiredlong track speed skater. She is a six-time medallist having achieved one gold, two silver, three bronze at theWinter Olympics.
She is the only Canadian Olympian to win five medals in a single Olympic Games and the first female speed skater to win five medals in a single Olympic Games at the2006 Winter Olympics inTurin, Italy.[1] She was the world record holder inthe 1500 m for 10 years, from November 2005 to November 2015,[2] and the world record holder inthe 3000 m for over 13 years, from November 2005 to March 2019;[3] neither record was broken until after she had retired from competition in June 2015. She also holds theCanadian record in the 5000 m.[4][5] Klassen is the leader of theAdelskalender, which is the all-time world ranking for speed skating. In 2003, Klassen became the first Canadian in 27 years to win the overall title at theWorld Speed Skating Championships.[4]
Klassen has several major awards and accolades to her name, including theLou Marsh Trophy in 2006, which is awarded for Canada's best athlete of the year. Due to her accomplishments at the 2006 Winter Olympics and her many accomplishments throughout her career, Klassen was named to theOrder of Manitoba.[6] Klassen was awarded theOscar Mathisen Award in 2006 for outstanding speed skating performance of the year. In 2007, she was named the Female Athlete of the Year at the Canadian Sports Awards.[4] Klassen won the 2005 and 2006Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as female athlete of the year as presented by theCanadian Press.[4] She was also tipped as Speed Skating Canada's 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 Female Skater of the Year for long track speed skating.[4] TheCanadian Mint featured Klassen on a Canadian quarter in 2010 as part of their Olympic memories editions and as a recognition of her six Olympic medals.[7]
Klassen started her sports career as anice hockey player at Gateway Community Club in Winnipeg and played for the Canadian national youth team. When she was not selected for the1998 Winter Olympics, she switched to speed skating, where she soon proved to be a natural talent.
Klassen missed the entire 2003–04 season due to a serious injury. She fell during training, collided with another skater, hit his skate, and as a result twelvetendons in her right arm were cut.
In 2006, she announced she would not carry the Canadian flag at theOpening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, although she had not yet been asked. The flag was instead carried by women's ice hockey veteranDanielle Goyette.
Going into the2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Klassen was considered one of the favourites, following herallround title in 2003 andtwo world distance titles in 2005.[8] Klassen started out by winning a silver in the 1000 m, narrowly missing out on gold.[9] Klassen then became Olympic champion in the 1500 m. She followed this with a silver in the women's team pursuit and bronze in the 3000 m and 5000 m.[9] Following her fifth and final medal of the Games on February 26, 2006, Klassen said of her success that "Going into the Games, I thought maybe the 1500 and 3000 would be my strong point and maybe I could get a medal in those. To come out with five, it's been better than expected and really a dream come true."[9]
Klassen became the first Canadian to win five medals in one Olympic Games. With this achievement, she tied AmericanEric Heiden's record of five medals won by a speed skater at an Olympics (1980). At the same time, she overtook the previous Canadian record of most medals (three), set in1984 byGaétan Boucher. Klassen also became the first female speed skater to win five medals in a single Olympics, surpassingLidiya Skoblikova's four medals in the1964 Olympics.[1] Combined with her bronze medal at the2002 Winter Olympics, she became the first Canadian to win six career Olympic medals, surpassing the five medals ofMarc Gagnon andPhil Edwards and matched in the same race by winnerClara Hughes at the same 2006 Winter Olympics.[9]
She was named flagbearer for theclosing ceremony. Her winning the largest number of medals at the Turin Olympics causedIOC presidentJacques Rogge to call her the "woman of the games".[10] The following day, February 27, Klassen signed the most lucrative endorsement deal ever for a Canadian amateur athlete, withManitoba Telecom Services (MTS), estimated at $1 million. Klassen also signed an endorsement deal with McDonald's. On December 11, she was named as the winner of theLou Marsh Trophy as Canadian athlete of the year, beating out the likes ofJoe Thornton,Justin Morneau,Steve Nash and teammateClara Hughes.[1]
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In preparation for the2010 Winter Olympics inVancouver, Klassen decided not to participate in the fall races for theSpeed Skating World Cup. She returned to competition in 2008 but decided to cut the skating season short in February 2008 after her sister was in a near-fatal accident.[11] She also said that she would only focus on the World Single Distance Championships. Defending her all-around title and high World Cup classifications were not her main goal for the season.[12][13] In July, Klassen had surgery to repair damage done to her knees over her skating career and in high school basketball.[14] The surgeries would keep her from competing in the2008–09 World Cup. Sometime later in 2009, her doctor discussed her knees, saying that:
These things don't go away, they're not cured. It's not like a broken bone that once it's healed it's back to good strength and can take stress. It's not like that. It's never going to be perfectly normal. It's not possible to get that.
He later added that the only way for her knees to stop degenerating would be for Klassen to give up speed skating.[15]
On January 5, 2010, theRoyal Canadian Mint announced that they were minting 22 millionCanadian quarters with an image of Klassen in a speed skating pose on it. Three million of the quarters were minted with a redmaple leaf on it. The mint issued the quarters as an honour to Klassen's six medals in the Olympics, and as part of their Olympic Moments quarter-coins series.[16]
Coming back from double knee-surgery and two years off from skating, Klassen's main goal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver was simply to compete. She said that "My goal is just to qualify. To get there would be great."[17] She failed to medal in 2010, placing 21st in the1500 m, 14th in the3000 m, and 12th in the5000 m. Klassen was also named as an alternate in the team pursuit.[18] While Klassen stated that she was unsure of whether she would continue speed skating after the Games, she believed that her knees would hold out and that the2014 Sochi Olympics were a possibility.[18]
Klassen qualified for the2010–11 World Cup in October 2010. Of qualifying, her ongoing injury struggles, and surgery recover Klassen said that:
I'm just going to go out and do the best that I can and see what happens. My knees still hurt. Some days are better than others. There's always aches and pains in skating . . . for me I feel like I'm more of a work skater than technical skater. I've been able to do harder training this year than I have in the past, which is a good thing because that's kind of my strong point so I'll see where that takes me. It's been fun but it's been really hard, too.[19]
At the first meet of the World Cup season, Klassen got her first individual podium result since the2007–08 season,[20] finishing second in the 3000 m and following that with a fourth-place finish in the 1500 m the next day.
Despite the pain and fatigue from injuries, Klassen became a member of the women's team pursuit team that first won gold at the2011 World Championships and then came back at the2012 Worlds to win a silver as repeat medallists.[21] Thatsame season she had also helped to pull the women to the top of the World Cup title, winning three of four races that year together withBrittany Schussler andChristine Nesbitt.
She retired in June 2015 after the tail end of her career was hampered by injuries. Klassen issued a retirement interview stating "It's been an incredible honour to represent Canada in speed skating for 15 years. Speed skating has been a blessing in my life. It has provided me with unbelievable experiences and has taught me many life lessons."[22]
After retirement from sports, she finished a degree in psychology and joined theCalgary Police Service as a constable.[23]
Medals[edit]
| Awards[edit]
|
On March 18, 2006, Cindy Klassen Set the women's 3000mworld record in Calgary, Canada, which stood almost 13 years until March 2, 2019.Martina Sáblíková beat Klassen's time of 3:53.34 by 0.03 seconds at the Allround World Championships in Calgary. Cindy Klassen is the leader of theAdelskalender, the all-time world ranking.
| Women'sspeed skating | ||||
| Event | Result | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 m | 37.51 | March 18, 2006 | Olympic Oval, Calgary | |
| 1000 m | 1:13.11 | March 25, 2006 | Olympic Oval, Calgary | |
| 1500 m | 1:51.79 | November 20, 2005 | Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City | Former world record[2] Former Canadian record (2005–2020)[26] |
| 3000 m | 3:53.34 | March 18, 2006 | Olympic Oval, Calgary | Former world record[3] Current Canadian record (2006–)[27] |
| 5000 m | 6:48.97 | March 19, 2006 | Olympic Oval, Calgary | Former Canadian record (2006–2019)[28] |
| 10000 m | 15:17.63 | March 25, 2002 | Olympic Oval, Calgary | Current Canadian record (2005–)[29] |
| Event | Time | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mini combination | 155.576 | March 15–17, 2001 | Calgary |
| Small combination | 159.723 | January 25–26, 2003 | Salt Lake City |
| 1500 m | 1:53.87 | January 9, 2005 | Salt Lake City |
| Small combination | 159.605 | January 8–9, 2005 | Salt Lake City |
| 1500 m | 1:53.77 | October 28, 2005 | Calgary |
| 3000 m | 3:55.75 | November 12, 2005 | Calgary |
| 1500 m | 1:51.79 | November 20, 2005 | Salt Lake City[a] |
| Small combination | 157.177 | January 21–22, 2006 | Calgary |
| 3000 m | 3:53.34 | March 18, 2006 | Calgary |
| Small combination | 154.580 | March 18–19, 2006 | Calgary |
| 1000 m | 1:13.46 | March 24, 2006 | Calgary |
| 1000 m | 1:13.11 | March 25, 2006 | Calgary |
| Sprint combination | 149.305 | March 24–25, 2006 | Calgary |
| Mini combination | 155.456 | December 28–30, 2006 | Calgary |
Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com.[31]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Bobbie Rosenfeld Award 2005, 2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lou Marsh Trophy 2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Oscar Mathisen Award 2006 | Succeeded by |
