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Factbox: Reuters Sportswoman of the Year Ireen Wust

(Reuters) - Factbox on Dutch speedskater Ireen Wust, who was named Reuters Sports Women of the Year for 2014. EARLY DAYS Born on April 1 1986 in Goirle, in the south of the Netherlands. Wust began skating at age 11 and showed her Olympic potential in the youths ranks by winning the world junior title in Finland in 2005. She made her Netherlands debut in 2005 and moved to the Dutch speedskating capital of Heerenveen to hone her talents. TURIN OLYMPICS She won the 1,000 meters, 1,500 and 3,000 titles at the 2006 Dutch Single Distance Championships to book a place on the team for the 2006 Turin Olympics, where, aged 19, she became the youngest Dutch Olympic gold medalist. She added to her 3,000m gold in Turin by taking bronze in the 1,500 and went on to be named Dutch Sports Woman of the Year. FOLLOWING ON She won two golds and a silver at the 2007 World Single Distance Championships in Salt Lake City and the European All round championships the following year. She became the first Dutch woman to be Olympic, world and European champion at the same time. Her 2008-09 campaign was arguably her low point. Poor results led to dwindling confidence but she managed a third-place finish at the World Allround Championships and took silver in the 1,500m at the World Single Distance Championships. VANCOUVER She took gold in the 1,500m for her second Olympic win but was off the pace in the 1,000 and in the defense of her 3,000m title. She was also part of the team pursuit trio who were beaten by Germany in the quarter-finals. Her career was put on hold in September 2010 when she underwent surgery to remove a benign tumor on her ovaries. 2011 AND ON Cemented herself as the strongest middle distance skater by taking four consecutive World All Round Championship golds from 2011 and adding the 1,500m World Cup title in the lead-up to her third Olympics in Sochi. SOCHI In form and full of confidence, she entered five events at the Sochi Games winning medals in all of them to become the most successful Dutch Olympian. Her gold medals in the 3,000m and team pursuit and silvers in the 1,000, 1,500 and 5,000m were the biggest haul by an athlete in Sochi and matched the record at any Winter Games. AWARDS AND FUTURE Wust, who has an ice rink named after her in Tilburg, Netherlands, was awarded top female athlete of the Sochi Games by the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC). She plans to skate at another Games in Pyeongchang in 2018 before retiring. Two medals in South Korea would take her above Germany's Claudia Pechstein, who holds the record of nine Olympic speedskating medals, including five gold. TOTAL OLYMPIC MEDAL TALLY 4 Gold (3,000m 2006; 1,500m 2010; 3,000m and team pursuit 2014) 3 Silver (1,000, 1,500 and 5,000m 2014) 1 Bronze (1,500m 2006) (Reporting by Patrick Johnston, editing by Julien Pretot)