Jaap Eden
Dutch speed skater and racing cyclist (1873-1925)
Jacobus Johannes "Jaap" Eden (19 October 1873 – 2 February 1925) was a Dutch athlete. He is the only male athlete to win world championships in both speed skating and bicycle racing.
Early life
Jaap Eden was born in Groningen to Johannes Eden and Maria Baale. Eden's mother died of complications from his birth. His father, a gymnastics teacher, could not take care of the baby alone and sent him to his grandparents, who owned a hotel near Santpoort. As a boy, Eden enjoyed running in dunes near his grandparents' home, gymnastics and, in the winter, skating. His speed and skating technique were noticed by the best Dutch skater at the time, Klaas Pander, who invited the 15-year-old Eden to join him training.
Jaap Eden's first significant victory came in a short track race over 160m in December 1890. Thus, Eden, at age 17, was allowed by the Dutch Federation to compete in the world championships.
The championships were organized by the Skating Club of Amsterdam, as there was no international governing body at the time.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jaap Eden” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.