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Biography
Stien Kaiser was a late bloomer. She skated in the team of the South Holland District under the coaching of Piet Zwanenburg. When he suggested taking her to a training camp in Norway, the Dutch Skating Federation (KNSB) rejected the proposal because she was "already twenty-five."
Nevertheless, in the sixties and seventies, she achieved an impressive series of results. Her first podium finish, also the first for a Dutch skater at the World Allround Championships, came in 1965 when, despite a knee injury, she won bronze. She became a two-time world champion. In the 1967 World Championships in Deventer, she won three distances and had a four-point lead in the overall standings. That year, she was chosen as Sportswoman of the Year. At the 1968 World Championships in Helsinki, she defended her title, with Dutch teammates Ans Schut and Carry Geijssen finishing second and third, respectively.
At the 1972 Olympic Winter Games, she won two bronze medals. In the 3000 meters, she secured a gold medal with a lead of 6.53 seconds over the second-place finisher, Dianne Holum, marking the largest gap in the history of Olympic women's speed skating. She also won a silver medal in the 1500 meters. Due to financial difficulties, she later sold her four Olympic medals.
She participated in the European Championships three times, finishing second in 1970, seventh in 1971, and eleventh in her last appearance in 1972. She also took part in the World Sprint Championships in 1970, '71, and '72.
Stien Kaiser became the Dutch allround champion six times, a record since 1971. She set nine world records in long and middle distances and the allround category. In her eight participations in the World Allround Championships, she earned 21 distance medals (8-11-2). Each time, she secured medals in the 1500 and 3000 meters, with five in the 1000 meters and one in the 500 meters. In her three European Championship participations, she won four distance medals (0-3-1). In 1970, she won silver in the 1500 and 3000 meters, and in 1971, she won silver in the 1500 meters and bronze in the 3000 meters. In the World Sprint Championships, she won the silver medal in the 1000 meters in 1971 and the bronze medal in the 1000 meters in 1972.
In 1971, Kaiser married, and her husband was a teacher. They had two daughters together, but later they divorced. She was the niece of skater and coach Kees Broekman, whose older sister Hendrika Wilhelmina Broekman was Kaiser's mother.
Stien Kaiser passed away in 2022 at the age of 84. She had been suffering from long-term lung fibrosis. [1]
Birth
Stien was born in 1938. She was the daughter of Gerrit Kaiser and Hendrika Wilhelmina Broekman [2]
Marriage
She married Hisco Baas in 1971. [3] They divorced.
Death
She passed away in 2022 [4]
Sources
- ↑ Wikipedia Biography Stien Kaiser
- ↑ De Volkskrant 24-05-1938 Birth 1938 Delft
- ↑ Trouw 01-04-1971 Marriage 1971 Delft
- ↑ Online Familieberichten Death 2022 Baarn
