Gerard Pieter Hendrik van Velde is a Dutch retired speed skater who specialised in sprinting. He won an Olympic gold medal in 2002.

The Utah Olympic Oval is an indoor speed skating oval located 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Salt Lake City, in Kearns, Utah. The Oval was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics and it hosted the long track speed skating events for the 2002 games. Inside the facility the 400 meter skating track surrounds two international sized ice sheets, and is itself surrounded by a 442-meter running track. Due to its high altitude, 4,675 feet (1,425 m), and the associated low air resistance, ten Olympic records and nine world records were set at the Oval during the 2002 games, the largest number of world records ever set at one event.