For all ice skating fans in the Netherlands, the wait is over. Today is the start of the ice skating season in Heerenveen. Today’s heroes are called Jutta, Patrick and Thomas. Fifty years ago it was Ard and Keessie.

This ‘Keessie’ is celebrating his 80th birthday today. Born and raised in his parents’ pub in Puttershoek, Kees Verkerk is celebrating his birthday in Norway. It was there that he found his second home years ago. And that’s where he keeps his Olympic medals.

The gold over 1,500 meters in Grenoble, for example, the first Olympic victory in figure skating for a Dutchman. But also the silver medal over 1,500 meters in Innsbruck four years earlier.

21 more course records to Verkerk

Sports historian Jurryt van de Vooren and skating historian Marnix Koolhaas compiled a list of track records that are still held in Verkerk’s name half a century later.

They set 21 records on 15 different ice rinks. Verkerk won half of that in the harsh winter of 1963 – the toughest Elfstedentocht in history – in matches in the South and North Holland regions.

He set his first course records in one day, December 29, 1962, at competitions at ‘s Gravendeel and Puttershoek. Almost a year later he turned the South Holland Championship at Ter Aar to his will by winning the 5,000 meters in a still unassailable track record of 8.39.4.

There was a reason for this: Because the curves of the ice rink in Ter Aar were already well worn, Verkerk – smart as he was – simply drove within the edges of the snow. Also thanks to the dense fog that hung over the route, the jury and favorite Rudie Liebrechts was left behind.

Remarkably, that foggy South Holland title at Ter Aar convinced the KNSB to add young Verkerk to the core squad. A right decision, because a year later Verkerk won Olympic silver over 1,500 meters in Innsbruck.

This Innsbruck silver medal is in its native Norway, without a ribbon. The tape went with him in his mother’s coffin. The day after Verkerk’s ceremony at the parents’ cafe in Puttershoek, Verkerk found his mother lifeless in bed.

In De muts van Kees Verkerk, a 2017 documentary in the Other Times Sport series, Verkerk spoke candidly about this radical moment. “There was music and noise downstairs (in the café). I was down two steps and I said, ‘Mother is dead. It’s the medal’s fault’.”

In memory of his mother, Verkerk maintained the fur hat his mother wore for the rest of his career at his gold Olympic race in Innsbruck. The hat belonged in the trunk everywhere, and Verkerk used it to warm his head wherever he could or had to.

Like in 1967, when he became European champion in Lahti, Finland, at temperatures of 35 degrees below zero. 2.12.9 over 1,500 meters and 7.47.1 over 5,000 meters by Verkerk are still unrivaled 55 years later.

Due to the harsh conditions, the final distance was 10,000 meters. shortened to 3,000 meters. And after that, Lahti’s natural ice rink was – understandably – shunned by the top skaters.

Watch the fragment from Andere Tijden Sport below where Kees Verkerk talks about his European title in Lahti.

Also in Stavanger, where the first World Cup competition is due in two weeks, Verkerk is still on the books. In January 1968 – just before the Grenoble Games, where he would take gold and silver – Verkerk set a course record in the 1,500 meters with a time of 2.13.7.

But that was at a different time on a natural ice rink, where wind and weather had free reign. Last year’s winner Ning Zhongyan was almost half a minute faster at the Sørmarka Arena in Stavanger.

Below you can watch the entire documentary ‘Kees Verkerk’s Fur Hat’ by Andere Tijden Sport.