Mark TUITERT

As the 1999 World Junior Champion, Mark Tuitert was first known as an allround skater. In 2004, he won the European Allround Championships, having placed third a year earlier. With the years, he started to focus more on his best distance, the 1500 m, and abandoned allround in favour of sprinting after the 2007 season. In the 1500 m, Tuitert has won the World Cup in the 2004 and 2005 seasons, placing second at the World Single Distance Championships in that distance those same years. He nevertheless failed to qualify for the Dutch Olympic team at the distance, having to contend with a spot on the pursuit team that won a bronze medal. During his career, Tuitert never won a Dutch distance title (finishing second in the 1500 m three times), but he did win the Dutch allround championships in 2006. He has also set one World Record, that for allround points in 2004.

Personal Bests: 500 – 35.43 (2009); 1,000 – 1:07.94 (2007); 1,500 – 1:42.87 (2007); 3,000 – 3.41.16 (2005); 5,000 – 6:27.63 (2004); 10,000 - 13:38.91 (2004).