Heather Bergsma

Heather Bergsma
	2016 WSD Speed Skating Championships
Personal information
Birth name	Heather Richardson
Born	March 20, 1989 (age 35); High Point, North Carolina, U.S.
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	149 lb (68 kg)
Spouse	Jorrit Bergsma
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Speed skating
Medal record
Women's speed skating
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
World Sprint Championships
World Single Distances Championships

Heather Bergsma (née Richardson; born March 20, 1989) is an American former speed skater who competed between 2006 and 2020.

Career

Bergsma is a native of North Carolina. She represented the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where she finished 6th in 500 metres, 9th in the 1000 metres, and 16th in the 1500 metres.^[1] At the 2011 World Single Distance Championships in Inzell, Germany, she won a bronze medal in the 1000 metres.^[2] She also placed 8th in the 500 metres,^[3] and was part of the team pursuit team that finished in 8th place.^[4]

On January 26–27, 2013, Bergsma won the gold medal at the 2013 World Sprint Championships in Salt Lake City, United States.^[5] She has since won several world championship medals,^[6] and earned numerous podium placings in the World Cup.^[7] At the 2018 Winter Olympics, she won the bronze medal in the team pursuit.

Bergsma held the American record on the 500 metres distance from 2011 to 2021.^[8] She is the current world record holder in the 2 x 500 meters,^[9] and held the 1500 metres world record from 2015 to 2019,^[10] and also briefly held the 1000 metres world record in November 2015,^[11] and the sprint combination world record from 2013 to 2017.^[12]

She announced her retirement from skating in February 2020.^[13]

Personal life

Bergsma married Dutch speed skater and marathon skater Jorrit Bergsma in May 2015, and competed as Heather Richardson-Bergsma the following season.^[14]

Speed skating

Records

Personal records

Event	Result	Date	Location	Notes
Personal records^[14]
Women's speed skating
500 m	36.90	November 16, 2013	Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City	American record until beaten by Erin Jackson on December 3, 2021.^[8]
2 x 500 m	74.190	December 28, 2013	Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City	Current world record.^[9]
1000 m	1:12.28	February 26, 2017	Olympic Oval, Calgary
1500 m	1:50.85	November 21, 2015	Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City	World record until beaten by Miho Takagi on March 10, 2019.^[10]
3000 m	4:05.00	March 7, 2015	Olympic Oval, Calgary
5000 m	7:20.27	March 8, 2015	Olympic Oval, Calgary

World records

Event	Result	Date	Location	Notes
World records^[15]
Women's speed skating
2 x 500 m	74.190	December 28, 2013	Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City	Current world record.^[9]
1000 m	1:12.51	November 14, 2015	Olympic Oval, Calgary	World record until beaten by Brittany Bowe on November 22, 2015.^[11]
1500 m	1:50.85	November 21, 2015	Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City	World record until beaten by Miho Takagi on March 10, 2019.^[10]
Sprint comb.	147.735	January 19–20, 2013	Olympic Oval, Calgary	World record until beaten by Nao Kodaira on February 25–26, 2017.^[12]

Results timeline

Season	World Sprint	World SD	World Cup	Olympic Games
2007–08	25th	Did not participate	53rd 500 m NC 1000 m	Not held
2008–09	20th	16th 2x500 m 15th 1000 m	NC 100 m 28th 500 m 22nd 1000 m NC 1500 m	Not held
2009–10	Did not participate	Not held	9th 500 m 9th 1000 m	6th 2x500 m 9th 1000 m 16th 1500 m
2010–11	4th	6th 2x500 m 1000 m 8th team pursuit	4th 500 m 1000 m 14th 1500 m	Not held
2011–12	6th	4th 2x500 m 4th 1000 m 8th team pursuit	9th 500 m 1000 m 21st 1500 m
2012–13		8th 2x500 m 6th 1000 m	5th 500 m 1000 m 33rd 1500 m
2013–14		Not held	500 m 1000 m 17th 1500 m 1st GWC	8th 2x500 m 7th 1000 m 7th 1500 m 6th team pursuit
2014–15		2x500 m 1000 m 1500 m	500 m 5th 1000 m 1500 m 30th 3k/5k 18th mass start 1st GWC	Not held
2015–16		5th 2x500 m 1000 m 1500 m 13th mass start	500 m 1000 m 1500 m 6th mass start	Not held

Note: NC = No classification.

^[6]^[7]

References

^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Heather Richardson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
^ "ESSENT ISU WORLD DISTANCES CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011 – Result 1000m Ladies – Rankings as of Mar 12 2011 12:48PM". International Skating Union. March 12, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
^ "ESSENT ISU WORLD DISTANCES CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011 – Result 500m Ladies – Rankings as of Mar 13 2011 1:43PM". International Skating Union. March 13, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
^ "ESSENT ISU WORLD DISTANCES CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011 – Result Team Pursuit Ladies – Rankings as of Mar 13 2011 4:20PM". International Skating Union. March 13, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
^ "Essent ISU World Sprint Championships 2013 – Classification Ladies – Rankings as of Jan 27 2013 3:58PM". International Skating Union. January 27, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Heather Richardson". www.speedskatingstats.com. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Heather Richardson". www.speedskatingstats.com. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "National Records – United States (USA) – Women's 500m". www.speedskatingresults.com. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Evolution of the world record 2x500 meters Women". www.speedskatingstats.com. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Evolution of the world record 1500 meters Women". www.speedskatingstats.com. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Evolution of the world record 1000 meters Women". www.speedskatingstats.com. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Evolution of the world record Sprint combination Women". www.speedskatingstats.com. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
^ "Heather Bergsma, world champion speed skater, retires". NBC Sports. February 18, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Heather Bergsma". www.speedskatingresults.com. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
^ "Heather Richardson". www.speedskatingstats.com. Retrieved January 11, 2016.

External links

Heather Bergsma at the International Skating Union
Heather Richardson at the International Skating Union at the Wayback Machine (archived July 20, 2011)
Heather Bergsma at Team USA (archive October 19, 2021)
Heather Richardson at Team USA (archived August 26, 2016)
Heather Richardson at Olympics.com
Heather Richardson-Bergsma at Olympedia

Records
Preceded by Yu Jing	Women's sprint combination speed skating world record January 20, 2013 – February 26, 2017	Succeeded by Nao Kodaira
Preceded by Jenny Wolf	Women's 2 x 500 m speed skating world record December 28, 2013 – present	Succeeded by Current holder
Preceded by Brittany Bowe	Women's 1000 m speed skating world record November 14, 2015 – November 22, 2015	Succeeded by Brittany Bowe
Preceded by Brittany Bowe	Women's 1500 m speed skating world record November 21, 2015 – March 10, 2019	Succeeded by Miho Takagi