Barbara de Loor

Who is Barbara de Loor?

Barbara de Loor is a retired Dutch speed skater who was specialised in the middle long and longer distances, over 1000 to 5000 metres.

De Loor will be known in history as a talented skater who often ended up just after the awarded medal positions, which already started in her junior years when she became 6th and 4th at the World Junior Championships in 1992 and 1993 respectively. A few years later after she made the step to the seniors she qualified for the All-around World Championships and finished there in 9th position. That same year she reached two top-10 rankings at the World Single Distance Championships, while participating in three distances. This was however also the year that she achieved her first international medal, by becoming third at the European All-around Championships, claiming the bronze.

In 1998 she finished sixth at the same European All-around Championship, she also qualified for her first Olympics, the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, where she participated at the 1500 and 5000 metres. Her 22nd place at the 1500 metres was no success, however she surprised the world with her fourth position at the 5000 metres, finishing just outside the medals. The trend was set and in 1999 she became fourth over 3000 metres and fifth over 5000 metres at the World Single Distance Championships. She also finished fifth at the European All-around Championships and sixth at the World All-around Championships. In 2000 she would not come close to any of these efforts, but she returned at the highest level in 2001, reaching a fourth position at the European, and a fifth at the World All-around Championships. However the season was still disappointed as she failed to qualify for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.