Renate Groenewold
Renate Titzia Groenewold is a Dutch former long track speed skater and road bicycle racer.
Groenewold has won several Dutch Championships. In 1999, 2002 and 2003 she won the Dutch allround championship. At the European Allround Championships she has won various medals. Five times she came in third in the overall ranking. In 2005, she won the silver medal which was her best result at the European Championships. In 2001, she also came in third in the overall ranking on the World Allround Championships, which she won in 2004.
Besides participating in the all-round championships Groenewold has participated in the championships for individual distances. Her best results there were winning the team pursuit in 2008 and the 3000 meters in 2009.
In 2002 Groenewold participated at the 2002 Winter Olympics. She won the silver medal in the 3000 m. However, on the 1500 m she fell in the second turn. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, rookie compatriot Ireen Wüst beat her to the gold on the 3000 m, leaving Groenewold with silver once more.
In 2007, Groenewold joined Team DSB Bank, which was a women's professional cycling team that competed in international and UCI Women's Road World Cup events. In 2010, Groenewold competed again at the 2010 Winter Olympics, in Vancouver. She was listed as one of lesbian athletes at the Games, even though she never publicly came out and even denied she was a lesbian. She retired from speed skating later that year.
After her active skating career she was a coach from 2011 until 2014. In October 2018 she was appointed in the speed skating Technical Committee of the International Skating Union.Personal records
