Ellia Smeding
Personal information
Born (1998-03-16) 16 March 1998
Buckinghamshire, England
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Sport
CountryGreat Britain
SportSpeed skating
Event(s)1000m, 1500m

Ellia Smeding (born 16 March 1998) is a British long track speed skater. She competed at the 2020 European Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Racing in the 1000 meters, 1500 meters, and mass start events, she placed 14th, 18th, and 16th respectively.[1] She participated in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, becoming the first female long track speed skater to represent Great Britain at the Olympics since 1980.[2]

At the 2023 World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships, she finished 8th in the 1000 meters and 11th in the 1500 meters events.

She holds personal bests of 1:15.12 in the 1000 meters and 1:57.62 in the 1500 meters.[3]

Personal life

Born in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England, Smeding spent her early childhood in Oxfordshire before her family relocated to Leeuwarden in the Netherlands when she was around eight years old (her father is Dutch and her mother, English). She is in a relationship with fellow British-Dutch Olympic speed skater Cornelius Kersten; based in Heerenveen, the couple have a coffee brewing business which helps to fund their sporting lives.[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ "ISU Speed Skating Results - Live". app.isuresults.eu. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  2. ↑ "Aylesbury's Ellia Smeding on track to make history for Team GB in Beijing Winter Olympics". www.bucksherald.co.uk. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  3. ↑ "ISU Speed Skating Results - Live". app.isuresults.eu. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  4. ↑ Team GB speed skater Ellia Smeding: People don’t realise how much athletes sacrifice to train, says proud mum, Aasma Day, i (newspaper), 13 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022
  5. ↑ British speed skating couple Cornelius Kersten and Ellia Smeding: partners in all things, Jo Gunton, Olympics.com, 7 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022

Ellia Smeding at ISU

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