Marrit Leenstra (speed skater)

1.1. Birth and Background

Marrit Leenstra was born on 10 May 1989, in Wijckel, Netherlands.

1.2. Education

Information regarding Marrit Leenstra's formal educational path or specific mentors influencing her early career is not detailed in available records.

2.1. Junior Career

Leenstra made her World Cup debut in Moscow during the 2007 season. In the 2008 season, while still a junior, she set a junior world record in the 1500 meters at the World Cup event in Salt Lake City. That same season, she participated in the European Championships, finishing 6th overall after completing all four distances. This strong performance allowed her to qualify for the World Allround Championships in Berlin, where she placed 12th. A significant highlight of her junior career came in February 2008 when she was crowned World Junior Speed Skating Champion in Changchun, China. By March 2008, she further improved her junior world records in both the 1000 meters and 1500 meters, as well as in the mini combination. The records she set in the 1500 meters and mini combination remained current junior world records for several years.

Her junior competitive results include:

2.2. Senior Career Progression

Following the 2008 season, Leenstra transitioned to the senior speed skating ranks. The 2009 season presented challenges, as she did not qualify for the European Championships, World Sprint Championships, or World Allround Championships, though she did finish tenth in the 1500 meters at the World Single Distance Championships. After a disappointing 2010 season where she notably failed to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Leenstra experienced a significant breakthrough in the 2011 season. During this period, she secured the Dutch Allround Championships title, placed third at the European Championships, and finished fourth in the World Allround Championships. She also achieved a fourth-place finish in the 1000 meters at the World Single Distances and earned a silver medal in the team pursuit. Her strong performances culminated in a second-place overall standing in the ISU Speed Skating World Cup for the 1500 meters, including a World Cup victory in Salt Lake City. Leenstra continued to compete at an elite level, consistently challenging for podium finishes in various disciplines and team events, until her retirement from competitive skating in August 2018.

Her senior competitive results include:

3.1. Olympic Games

Leenstra participated in two Winter Olympics, where she garnered three medals.

• At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, she was a key member of the Dutch women's team pursuit squad that won the gold medal. Individually, she finished 19th in the 500 meters, 6th in the 1000 meters, and 4th in the 1500 meters.
• At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, she earned a silver medal in the women's team pursuit and a bronze medal in the 1500 meters. She also placed 6th in the 1000 meters.

3.2. World Championships

Leenstra achieved notable success in various World Championships formats.

• World Single Distance Championships: She won three consecutive gold medals in the team pursuit: at the 2013 World Single Distance Championships in Sochi, Russia; the 2016 World Single Distance Championships in Kolomna, Russia; and the 2017 World Single Distance Championships in Gangneung, South Korea. She also secured two silver medals in the team pursuit at the 2011 World Single Distance Championships in Inzell, Germany, and the 2015 World Single Distance Championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Individually, she placed 4th in the 1000 meters at the 2011 championships, 8th in the 1000 meters at the 2013 championships, 7th in the 1000 meters and 5th in the 1500 meters at the 2015 championships, 7th in the 1000 meters and 6th in the 1500 meters at the 2016 championships, and 4th in both the 1000 meters and 1500 meters at the 2017 championships.
• World Allround Speed Skating Championships: She finished 12th in 2008, 4th in 2011, and 13th in 2012.
• World Sprint Speed Skating Championships: Her results include 8th in 2012, 11th in 2013, 4th in 2016, and 4th in 2018.

3.3. European Championships

Leenstra also performed strongly at the European level.

• At the 2018 European Championships in Kolomna, Russia, she won a gold medal in the team pursuit, a bronze medal in the 1000 meters, and another bronze medal in the 1500 meters.
• She secured a bronze medal in the allround competition at the 2011 European Championships in Collalbo, Italy.
• She placed 6th in 2008 and 4th in 2017 in the European Allround Championships.

3.4. ISU Speed Skating World Cup

Marrit Leenstra was a dominant force in the ISU Speed Skating World Cup, winning two overall titles in the 1500 meters (2012-13 and 2014-15 seasons). Throughout her World Cup career, she achieved a total of 18 victories and 69 podium finishes across various disciplines. This includes 5 individual wins and 45 individual podiums, as well as 13 team wins and 24 team podiums.

Her detailed World Cup results by season are summarized in the table below:

winner ; second ; third ; did not compete (-); did not finish (nf); 5000 m races (*); division B races

Season	500 m															1000 m											1500 m								3000/5000 m								Team pursuit						Team sprint
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Points	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Points	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Points	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Points	1	2	3	4	5	Points	1	2	3	4	Points
2006/07															rowspan="2" -											rowspan="2" -								rowspan="2" 6								rowspan="2" -						rowspan="2" 240	rowspan="2" colspan="5" -
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-			-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-		-	-	-*	-	-*	-		-	-	-
2007/08															rowspan="2" -											rowspan="2" 122								rowspan="2" 67								rowspan="2" -						rowspan="2" 136	rowspan="2" colspan="5" -
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22	19	4	13	7	9	-	-	-	-	11	20	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-*	-	-*	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008/09															rowspan="2" -											rowspan="2" 64								rowspan="2" 177								rowspan="2" -						rowspan="2" 200	rowspan="2" colspan="5" -
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	11	6	13	11	6	12		-	-	-*	-	-*	-		-	1	-
2009/10															rowspan="2" -											rowspan="2" 0								rowspan="2" 10								rowspan="2" -						rowspan="2" 185	rowspan="2" colspan="5" -
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-			-	-	-	27	-	-	-				-	-	-	17	27	-		-	-	-*	-	-	-		-	-	-	-
2010/11															rowspan="2" 11											rowspan="2" 250								rowspan="2" 466								rowspan="2" 25						rowspan="2" 300	rowspan="2" colspan="5" -
	20	19	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-			7	6	-	-	-	-	6	2			3	2	4	1	2			-	1	-*	-	-*	-		-	3	1
2011/12															rowspan="2" -											rowspan="2" 420								rowspan="2" 401								rowspan="2" -						rowspan="2" 140	rowspan="2" colspan="5" -
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-			3	4	5	6	2	3	6				3	7	12	3	2	2		-	-	-*	-	-*	-		2	nf	-	-
2012/13															rowspan="2" 89											rowspan="2" 343								rowspan="2" 411								rowspan="2" -						rowspan="2" 400	rowspan="2" colspan="5" -
	15	14	12	14	-	-	16	-	17	-	-	-			4	4	5	-	-	5	6	4	10		2	1	2	6	3	8		-	-	-*	-	-*	-		2	3	1	1
2013/14															rowspan="2" 17											rowspan="2" 140								rowspan="2" 242								rowspan="2" -						rowspan="2" 450	rowspan="2" colspan="5" -
	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	4	-	-	-	-			-	-	-	5	6	6					4	-	-	4	9	4		-	-	-*	-	-	-		-	-	1	1
2014/15															rowspan="2" -											rowspan="2" 507								rowspan="2" 410								rowspan="2" -						rowspan="2" 350	rowspan="2" colspan="5" -
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-			1	2	4	8	6	2	3				2	1	3	3	-	4		-	-*	-	-	-	-		1	1	1
2015/16															rowspan="2" 70											rowspan="2" 465								rowspan="2" 396								rowspan="2" -						rowspan="2" 380					rowspan="2" 314
	-	-	18	2	11	4	5	4	-	-	-	-			6	4	5	3	3	2	4				5	4	3	3	3	5		-	-*	-	-	-	-		1	2	2	2		-	-	-	-
2016/17															rowspan="2" 126											rowspan="2" 451								rowspan="2" 460								rowspan="2" -						rowspan="2" 430					rowspan="2" 290
	11	10	14	17	-	16	8	-	-	-					2	8	3	2	4	2	6				2	3	2	4	2	4		-	-	-	-*	-	-		1	1	2	9	-	-	-	1
2017/18															rowspan="2" 120											rowspan="2" 420								rowspan="2" 390								rowspan="2" -						rowspan="2" 280					rowspan="2" 230
	17	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	4	-	-				4	4	3	-	2	-	1				20	1	2	2	2	2		-	-*	-	-	-	-		-	nf	2	2		-	-	-	2

Her World Cup podium finishes by discipline and season:

Her individual World Cup podiums:

No.	Season	Date	Location	Venue	Discipline	Place
1	2010/11	4 November 2010	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	1500 m	3rd
2		28 November 2010	Hamar, Norway	Vikingskipet	1500 m	2nd
3		19 February 2011	Salt Lake City, USA	Utah Olympic Oval	1500 m	1st
4		4 March 2011	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	1500 m	2nd
5		6 March 2011	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	1000 m	2nd
6	2011/12	19 November 2011	Chelyabinsk, Russia	Uralskaya Molniya	1000 m	3rd
7		20 November 2011	Chelyabinsk, Russia	Uralskaya Molniya	1500 m	3rd
8		22 January 2012	Salt Lake City, USA	Utah Olympic Oval	1000 m	2nd
9		11 February 2012	Hamar, Norway	Vikingskipet	1500 m	3rd
10		3 March 2012	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	1500 m	2nd
11		4 March 2012	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	1000 m	3rd
12		10 March 2012	Berlin, Germany	Sportforum Hohenschönhausen	1500 m	2nd
13	2012/13	17 November 2012	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	1500 m	2nd
14		24 November 2012	Kolomna, Russia	Kolomna Speed Skating Center	1500 m	1st
15		2 December 2012	Astana, Kazakhstan	Alau Ice Palace	1500 m	2nd
16		2 March 2013	Erfurt, Germany	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Halle	1500 m	3rd
17	2014/15	15 November 2014	Obihiro, Japan	Meiji Hokkaido-Tokachi Oval	1000 m	1st
18		16 November 2014	Obihiro, Japan	Meiji Hokkaido-Tokachi Oval	1500 m	2nd
19		22 November 2014	Seoul, South Korea	Taereung International Ice Rink	1500 m	1st
20		23 November 2014	Seoul, South Korea	Taereung International Ice Rink	1000 m	2nd
21		7 December 2014	Berlin, Germany	Sportforum Hohenschönhausen	1500 m	3rd
22		14 December 2014	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	1500 m	3rd
23		8 February 2015	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	1000 m	2nd
24		22 March 2015	Erfurt, Germany	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Halle	1000 m	3rd
25	2015/16	6 December 2015	Inzell, Germany	Eisstadion Inzell	1500 m	3rd
26		12 December 2015	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	1000 m	3rd
27		13 December 2015	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	1500 m	3rd
28		29 January 2016	Stavanger, Norway	Sørmarka Arena	1000 m	3rd
29		30 January 2016	Stavanger, Norway	Sørmarka Arena	1500 m	3rd
30		31 January 2016	Stavanger, Norway	Sørmarka Arena	1000 m	2nd
31	2016/17	12 November 2016	Harbin, China	Heilongjiang Indoor Rink	1000 m	2nd
32		13 November 2016	Harbin, China	Heilongjiang Indoor Rink	1500 m	2nd
33		20 November 2016	Nagano, Japan	M-Wave	1500 m	3rd
34		3 December 2016	Astana, Kazakhstan	Alau Ice Palace	1000 m	3rd
35		4 December 2016	Astana, Kazakhstan	Alau Ice Palace	1500 m	2nd
36		11 December 2016	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	1000 m	2nd
37		28 January 2017	Berlin, Germany	Sportforum Hohenschönhausen	1500 m	2nd
38		29 January 2017	Berlin, Germany	Sportforum Hohenschönhausen	1000 m	2nd
39	2017/18	2 December 2017	Calgary, Canada	Olympic Oval	1000 m	3rd
40		3 December 2017	Calgary, Canada	Olympic Oval	1500 m	2nd
41		9 December 2017	Salt Lake City, USA	Utah Olympic Oval	1500 m	2nd
42		19 January 2018	Erfurt, Germany	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Halle	1000 m	2nd
43		20 January 2018	Erfurt, Germany	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Halle	1500 m	2nd
44		17 March 2018	Minsk, Belarus	Minsk-Arena	1000 m	1st
45		18 March 2018	Minsk, Belarus	Minsk-Arena	1500 m	2nd

Her team World Cup podiums:

No.	Season	Date	Location	Venue	Discipline	Place	Note
1	2008/09	16 November 2008	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	Team pursuit	1st	with Ireen Wüst and Renate Groenewold
2	2010/11	28 November 2010	Hamar, Norway	Vikingskipet	Team pursuit	3rd	with Jorien Voorhuis and Marije Joling
3		30 January 2011	Moscow, Russia	Krylatskoye Skating Hall	Team pursuit	1st	with Ireen Wüst and Diane Valkenburg
4	2011/12	20 November 2011	Chelyabinsk, Russia	Uralskaya Molniya	Team pursuit	2nd	with Ireen Wüst and Diane Valkenburg
5	2012/13	18 November 2012	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	Team pursuit	2nd	with Diane Valkenburg and Marije Joling
6		2 December 2012	Astana, Kazakhstan	Alau Ice Palace	Team pursuit	3rd	with Diane Valkenburg and Linda de Vries
7		3 March 2013	Erfurt, Germany	Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Halle	Team pursuit	1st	with Ireen Wüst and Diane Valkenburg
8		8 March 2013	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	Team pursuit	1st	with Ireen Wüst and Linda de Vries
9	2013/14	8 December 2013	Berlin, Germany	Sportforum Hohenschönhausen	Team pursuit	1st	with Ireen Wüst and Jorien ter Mors
10		16 March 2014	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	Team pursuit	1st	with Lotte van Beek and Linda de Vries
11	2014/15	15 November 2014	Obihiro, Japan	Meiji Hokkaido-Tokachi Oval	Team pursuit	1st	with Ireen Wüst and Marije Joling
12		6 December 2014	Berlin, Germany	Sportforum Hohenschönhausen	Team pursuit	1st	with Ireen Wüst and Marije Joling
13		13 December 2014	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	Team pursuit	1st	with Linda de Vries and Carlijn Achtereekte
14	2015/16	14 November 2015	Calgary, Canada	Olympic Oval	Team pursuit	1st	with Antoinette de Jong and Marije Joling
15		5 December 2015	Inzell, Germany	Eisstadion Inzell	Team pursuit	2nd	with Antoinette de Jong and Marije Joling
16		12 December 2015	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	Team pursuit	2nd	with Antoinette de Jong and Linda de Vries
17		12 March 2016	Heerenveen, Netherlands	Thialf	Team pursuit	2nd	with Ireen Wüst and Antoinette de Jong
18	2016/17	12 November 2016	Harbin, China	Heilongjiang Indoor Rink	Team pursuit	1st	with Ireen Wüst and Antoinette de Jong
19		19 November 2016	Nagano, Japan	M-Wave	Team pursuit	1st	with Antoinette de Jong and Marije Joling
20		3 December 2016	Astana, Kazakhstan	Alau Ice Palace	Team pursuit	2nd	with Antoinette de Jong and Linda de Vries
21		13 March 2017	Stavanger, Norway	Sørmarka Arena	Team sprint	1st	with Floor van den Brandt and Anice Das
22	2017/18	8 December 2017	Salt Lake City, USA	Utah Olympic Oval	Team pursuit	2nd	with Melissa Wijfje and Lotte van Beek
23		17 March 2018	Minsk, Belarus	Minsk-Arena	Team pursuit	2nd	with Antoinette de Jong and Lotte van Beek
24		18 March 2018	Minsk, Belarus	Minsk-Arena	Team sprint	2nd	with Letitia de Jong and Lotte van Beek

4.1. Personal Best Records

Leenstra's personal best times in speed skating are:

4.2. Junior World Records

Leenstra held several junior world records during her early career: