View source for Ants Antson

{{Short description|Soviet speed skater (1938–2015)}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
|name=
|image=Ants Antson 1966.jpg
|headercolor = #d7ecff
|caption=Ants Antson in 1966
|birth_date={{birth date|1938|11|11|df=yes}}
|birth_place=[[Tallinn]], [[Estonia]]
|death_date={{death date and age|2015|10|31 |1938|11|11|df=yes}}
|death_place=
| height = {{convert|1.84|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| weight = {{convert|84|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
|sport=[[Speed skating]]
|club=Kalev Tallinn
|alma_mater=
| show-medals    = yes
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalCountry |the {{URS}} }}
{{MedalOlympics}}
{{MedalGold   | [[1964 Winter Olympics|1964 Innsbruck]] | [[Speed skating at the 1964 Winter Olympics – Men's 1500 metres|1500 m]]}}
}}

'''Ants Antson''' (11 November 1938 – 31 October 2015) was an [[Estonians|Estonian]] [[speed skating|speed skater]] who competed for the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name=r1/>

==Biography==
Antson trained at the [[Kalev (mythology)|Kalev]] [[Voluntary Sports Societies of the USSR|Voluntary Sports Society]]. Coached by former World, Olympic, and European Champion [[Boris Shilkov]], Antson had his best year in 1964, when he became [[European Speed Skating Championships|European Allround Champion]], won the 1500&nbsp;m event at the [[1964 Winter Olympics]] in [[Innsbruck]], and set a new world record in the 3000&nbsp;m. For his achievements that year, he received the [[Oscar Mathisen Award]].<ref name=r1/>

The two gold medals Antson won in 1964 turned out to be his only international medals, although he did win some national medals at the Soviet Allround Championships &ndash; gold in 1967, silver in 1965 and 1968, and bronze in 1966. He participated in the 1500&nbsp;m at the [[1968 Winter Olympics]] in [[Grenoble]], but despite skating a new personal record, he finished only twelfth.<ref name=r1/>

He retired shortly after the 1968 Games and worked as a sports official, first in the Soviet Estonian Committee for Physical Culture and Sports, and later with the Estonian Olympic Committee. At the [[1992 Winter Olympics]] he became the first [[List of flag bearers for Estonia at the Olympics|flag bearer for Estonia]] after it became independent from the Soviet Union.<ref name=r1/>

In 1965, Antson married Estonian film actress [[Eve Kivi]], the couple would divorce in 1972. He later married Ene Antson and the couple remained married until his death; one week and four days before his 77th birthday.

==Medals==
An overview of medals won by Antson at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:<ref name=r1/>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! Championships
| bgcolor=gold | '''Gold medal''' || bgcolor=silver | '''Silver medal''' || bgcolor=cc9966 | '''Bronze medal'''
|-
| align="left" | [[Speed skating at the Winter Olympics|Winter Olympics]] || 1964 (1500 m) || &ndash; || &ndash;
|-
| align="left" | [[World Allround Speed Skating Championships|World Allround]] || &ndash; || &ndash; || &ndash;
|-
| align="left" | [[European Speed Skating Championships|European Allround]] || 1964 || &ndash; || &ndash;
|-
| align="left" | Soviet Allround || 1967 || 1965 <br> 1968 || 1966
|}

==Records==
===World records===
Over the course of his career, Antson skated one [[List of speed skating records|world record]]:<ref name=r1/>

{| class='wikitable'
|-
!Discipline!!Time!!Date!!Location
|-
|[[World record progression 3,000 m speed skating men|3000 m]]||'''4:27.3'''||11 February 1964||align=left|{{flagicon|NOR}} [[Bislett Stadion|Oslo]]
|}

<small>Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com<ref name=stats>
{{cite web|title=Ants Antson
|url=http://www.speedskatingstats.com/index.php?file=skater&code=1938111101
|publisher=SpeedSkatingStats.com
|accessdate=29 August 2012}}</ref></small>

==Personal records==
To put these personal records in perspective, the ''WR'' column lists the official world records on the dates that Antson skated his personal records.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|-
!Event!!Result!!Date!!Venue!!WR
|-
|500 m||40.7||16 January 1968||align="left"|[[Medeo]]||39.5
|-   <!-- As of this edit, we do not have an article for the ice rink in Grenoble (Parc Paul Mistral, Anneau de Vitesse). -->
|1500 m||2:07.2||16 February 1968||align="left"|[[Grenoble]]||2:02.5
|-
|3000 m||4:27.3||11 February 1964||align="left"|[[Bislett stadion|Oslo]]||4:27.6
|-
|5000 m||7:34.8||16 January 1968||align="left"|[[Medeo]]||7:26.2
|-
|10000 m||15:57.7||18 January 1964||align="left"|[[Bislett stadion|Oslo]]||15:33.0
|-
|[[Samalog|Big combination]]||177,198||17 January 1968||align="left"|[[Medeo]]||176.982
|}

<small>Source: SpeedskatingResults.com<ref name=Results>{{cite web|title=Ants Antson|url=http://speedskatingresults.com/index.php?p=17&s=5541|publisher=SpeedskatingResults.com|accessdate=29 August 2012}}</ref></small>

Antson has an [[Adelskalender (skating)|Adelskalender]] score of 176.465 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was fourth place.

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=r1>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418004151/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/an/ants-antson-1.html Ants Antson]. sports-reference.com</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{Olympics.com|ants-antson}}
* {{EOK profile|7767}}
* {{ESBL profile|Ants_Antson}}
*[http://www.speedskatingstats.com/index.php?file=skater&code=1938111101 Ants Antson at SpeedSkatingStats.com]
*[http://www.sskating.com/index.php?name=ANTSON&fname=Ants&nat=URS&lm=m Personal records from Jakub Majerski's Speedskating Database]
*[http://www.speedskating.ru/en/stat.html Results of Soviet Championships at SpeedSkating.ru] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224220640/http://www.speedskating.ru/en/stat.html |date=2020-02-24 }}
*[http://akter.kulichki.net/sport/skating/antson.htm Legends of Soviet Sport] {{in lang|ru}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|aw}}
{{succession box|title=[[Oscar Mathisen Award]]|before={{flagicon|NOR}} [[Nils Aaness]]|after={{flagicon|NOR}} [[Per Ivar Moe]]|years=1964}}
{{succession box|title=[[Estonian Sportspersonality of the year|Estonian Sportspersonality of the Year]]|before={{flagicon|EST}} [[Toomas Leius]] |after={{flagicon|EST}} [[Toomas Leius]]|years=1964}}
{{s-end}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 1500m Speed Skating Men}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antson, Ants}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:Soviet male speed skaters]]
[[Category:Estonian male speed skaters]]
[[Category:Olympic speed skaters for the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:World record setters in speed skating]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Tallinn]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in speed skating]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:20th-century Estonian sportsmen]]