Patrick Beckert

Patrick Beckert (born 17 April 1990) is a German Olympic speed skater. He was named Erfurt’s Athlete of the Year in 2016, 2017, and 2020 and is the brother of olympic champion Stephanie Beckert.

Beckert was able to win medals at national and international levels as well as in the junior category. In the junior category, Beckert competed in the World Championships in 2007, 2008, and 2009. In 2007 in Innsbruck and 2009 in Zakopane, he and his team secured 2nd place in the men’s team competition. He is a multiple-time German junior champion and a 24-time German champion in the men’s category.

In the World Cup, he has stood on the podium ten times with two second and eight third-place finishes. In his first year in the adult category in the 2009/10 season, he ranked 23rd in the overall World Cup over 5/10 km. His best overall World Cup placements are 3rd place in the team event in 2011/12 and 2nd place in the long distance 5/10 km in the winter of 2013/14, a feat never achieved by a German speed skater over long distances.

Beckert has participated in the Single Distance World Championships nine times so far, as well as in the Allround World Championships in 2012, 2016, 2017, and 2019. His greatest success was winning the bronze medal over 10 km in German record time of 12:47.93 min in 2020. He also won the bronze medal over 10 km at the World Championships in 2015 and 2017. In addition, he finished 7th at the Allround World Championships in Hamar in 2017, setting a new German record.

He has participated in the Olympic Games four times so far, in 2010 in Vancouver, 2014 in Sochi, 2018 in Pyeongchang, and 2022 in Beijing. In 2010, at the age of 19, he was the youngest male German speed skater at the time and finished 22nd in the 5000-meter race with a time of 6:36.02 min, the best German over that distance. In 2014, he finished 8th in the 5 km race in 6:21.18 min and 6th in the 10 km race in 13:14.26 min, being the best German on both distances. In 2018 in South Korea, he finished seventh (10 km) and tenth (5 km), and in 2022 in Beijing, he finished seventh (10 km) and eleventh (5 km), once again being the best German runner in each case.

So far, he has set twelve German records in the men’s category and seven German records in the junior category, as well as nine championship records. He was the first German to run 10 km in under 13 minutes and 3 km in under 3:40 min. Currently, Beckert holds the German records for 3 km (3:37.31 min), 5 km (6:07.02 min), 10 km (12:47.93 min), Allround (151.730 points), and in team pursuit (3:40.50 min).

In 2015, Beckert was a member of the Dutch private team Jutstlease.nl. It was coached by Rutger Tijssen, the former coach of 5 and 10 km world record holder Sven Kramer. From 2016 to 2022, he trained with his younger brother Pedro in their hometown Erfurt following his own training program. Provided by Wikipedia