John Roland WERKET

Johnny Werket was, until Eric Heiden, the American man who had won the most medals in speed skating at the World Championships. In 1948 he won the distance gold in the 1,500 m, a silver in the 500, and placed second overall, the highest US all-around placing until Heiden. He repeated his distance medals at the 1949 World Championships. In 1950, he won gold in both the 500 and 1,500, placing third in all-around. In 1952, his final Worlds, he won silver medals in both the 500 and 1,500, giving him 10 World Championship medals in all. Werket was of Norwegian descent, and after the 1948 Worlds, the US team competed in Hamar, Norway. There, Werket met a 16-year-old Norwegian girl, Vesla Bekkevoll. They became pen pals, and it later developed into a romance, as they married in 1951 in Minneapolis. Werket attended Augsburg College, graduating in 1949, and skated for the Powderhorn Skating Club. Werket later became a speed skating coach, first with the Richfield Skating Club, and then with US National Teams, including the 1972 Olympic team, and coaching Heiden briefly in 1975. He worked for 31 years with Northern States Power, eventually moving up to an executive position, before retiring in 1983. He and his wife retired to Sun City, Arizona where they both play tennis, Vesla Werket at a high-level in age-group competition.

Personal Bests: 500 – 42.0 (1956); 1500 – 2:16.1 (1956); 5000 – 8:44.6 (1950); 10000 – 18:10.2 (1950).