Ids Postma

Who is Ids Postma?

Ids Hylke Postma is a Dutch former speed skater. He is an Olympic gold medalist and former world champion.

To some it would seem that Ids Postma made his debut in 1994, but the season before he had already finished 2nd at the Speedskating World Championships for Juniors. In his first year as senior skater, he became Dutch Allround Champion, finished second behind Johann Olav Koss at the World Allround Championships, and came 4th in the European Championships, but nevertheless did not qualify for the Dutch Olympic team. In 1997 Postma won both the European Allround Championships and the World Allround Championships.

His greatest success came in 1998 when he became World Allround Champion again, also setting a world record in the point-sum combination, and won two Olympic medals at the Olympic Games in Nagano. He won the 1,000 meters event and placed second at his specialty, the 1,500 meters, just behind Ådne Søndrål from Norway. Also in 1998, he was the first skater who skated an official world record on the 1,500 meters below 1:50.00: Postma did this in Berlin. Erben Wennemars had done the same the summer before, but that time was not ratified by the International Skating Union. Postma's record did not last long, because a few hours later Kevin Overland skated to a new record in Calgary.