Adriana Johanna Visser (born July 20, 1961 in Oud-Beijerland

Oud-Beijerland

Oud-Beijerland is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. With a population of 23,797 in 2005, it is the most populated town on the Hoekse Waard island, located on the Oude Maas and Spui Rivers....

, South Holland

South Holland

South Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the western part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is The Hague and its largest city is Rotterdam.South Holland is one of the most densely populated and industrialised areas in the world...

) is a former ice speed skater

Speed skating

Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...

 from the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

Visser participated in six World Allround Speed Skating Championships

World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women

The International Skating Union has organised the World Allround Speed Skating Championships for Women since 1936. Unofficial Championships were held in the years 1933-1935.-Distances used:...

, performing best at her first attempt in 1979, when she came in 6th. In 1979 and 1980 she won the bronze medal in the World Junior Speed Skating Championships

World Junior Speed Skating Championships

||valign=top width=50%|In 1971, when the ISU had a congress they decided to hold a World Junior Speed Skating Championships. After 2 test-championships , where only boys where allowed to skate, the first official championship was introduced in Cortina d'Ampezzo. In this championship boys and girls...

. At the 1980 Winter Olympics

1980 Winter Olympics

The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...

 in Lake Placid

Lake Placid, New York

Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....

 she won the silver medal in the women's 1500 metres, finishing just behind her Dutch teammate Annie Borckink

Annie Borckink

Anna Johanna Geertruida Maria Borckink is a former ice speed skater from the Netherlands, who represented her native country at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States. She won the gold medal in the women's 1500 metres event, with Dutch teammate Ria Visser winning the silver medal...

. At the 1984 Winter Olympics

1984 Winter Olympics

The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden...

 she raced three distances, but did not reach higher than a 13th place. Unlike in international events, Visser was very successful at the Dutch National Allround Championships, winning the event five times and coming in second twice. Only Stien Kaiser

Stien Kaiser

Christina Wilhelmina Baas-Kaiser is a former speed skater from the Netherlands....

 has been more successful at the national level.

In the 1990s she became a TV commentator for the Dutch sports programme NOS

Nederlandse Omroep Stichting

The Nederlandse Omroep Stichting , English: Netherlands Broadcasting Foundation, is one of the broadcasters in the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system...

Studio Sport.