Joan Haanappel

Who is Joan Haanappel?

Joan Haanappel is a former Dutch figure skater, competitive in the 1950s and 60s, who later worked for television as a sports presenter and figure skating commentator.More recently she became involved with the Dutch figure skating governing body KNSB.

She started her sports career in her hometown in 1949, and from the mid-1950s she and Sjoukje Dijkstra were successful in a sport which had hardly been known in The Netherlands at all until then. Initially, Haanappel was the most successful, and won the first of four Dutch championships in 1955.

Haanappel won the bronze medal three times at the European Championships, in 1958, 1959 and 1960. She also took part in two Olympic Games; as a fifteen-year-old she came 13th in 1956, and in 1960 she came 5th. After the World Championships of the same year she ended her competitive career, and started skating professionally, first for the Vienna Ice Show and later for Holiday on Ice.

She started her television career in 1976 as a presenter and commentator, first for Studio Sport, a Dutch national channel then for Eurosport. She also worked in sports for ZDF Germany. Currently she works as a television freelancer.