(L-R) Heather Bergsma and Jorrit Bergsma pose with their son, Brent.
As the son of two Olympic medalist speedskaters, it’s no wonder Brent Bergsma was fast in arriving to the world.
Heather Bergsma announced in an Instagram post Wednesday morning that she and husband Jorrit Bergsma welcomed their first child on Oct. 16, just about two weeks early.
“He decided 38 weeks and 2 days was long enough,” Heather Bergsma wrote. “Jorrit and I couldn’t be any happier.”
Heather, 29, and a bronze medalist at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, broke the news that the couple was pregnant last May. The announcement came shortly after she announced she would be taking a two-year break from competition. She and Jorrit, 32, were married in 2015. The couple lives and trains in Jorrit’s native Netherlands.
Heather won her Olympic medal as a member of the U.S. team that finished third in team pursuit in PyeongChang, the first U.S. medal in women’s speedskating since 2002. The High Point, North Carolina, native has competed in three Olympic Winter Games and is a four-time gold medalist at the world championships.
Jorrit has represented the Dutch at two Olympic Winter Games, winning a gold and bronze medal at the 2014 Games and a silver in 2018.
Todd Kortemeier is a sportswriter, editor and children’s book author from Minneapolis. He is a contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
