Robert Rintje Ritsma (born 13 April 1970) is a Dutch former long track speed skater. His nickname is the Beer van Lemmer, which translates to the Bear from Lemmer, analogous to Igor Zhelezovski's nickname "The Bear from Minsk", both of which are in reference to their imposing physical appearance. He appeared in the Dutch version of The Masked Singer as the Springbok. In October 2022 Ritsma started as the Dutch national speed skating coach of the team pursuit, team sprint, and the mass start. Speed skating career He has won the World Allround Championships 4 times. He won this title in 1995, 1996,1999 and 2001; he was second in 1998 and 2003; he was third in 1993, 1994 and 2000. He has won the European Allround Championships a record 6 times: 1994-1996 and 1998-2000. He participated in five Winter Olympics, winning two silver and four bronze medals, from the 1994, 1998 and 2006 Games. He also stood at the top of the alltime world ranking, the Adelskalender, for a long time (1,125 days in total). Records World records Over the course of his career, Ritsma skated 4 world records: Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com Personal records Source: SpeedskatingResults.com Tournament overview source: World Cup overview On 1 December 2013 in Astana, Kazakhstan, Sven Kramer won his 30th ISU World Cup event thus surpassing Ritsma as the most successful Dutch World Cup speed skater. Source: – = Did not participate * = 10000 meter Medals won References External links Photos of Rintje Ritsma Rintje Ritsma at SpeedSkatingStats.com 1970 births Living people Dutch male speed skaters Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic speed skaters of the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands People from De Fryske Marren Sportspeople from Friesland Olympic medalists in speed skating World record setters in speed skating Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships medalists