Dennis van der Geest

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Dennis van der Geest, 2008 in Amsterdam

Dennis van der Geest (born June 27, 1975 in Haarlem ) is a former Dutch judoka . He won an Olympic heavyweight bronze medal in 2004 and was world champion in the open class in 2005.

Career

Dennis van der Geest was successful in the youth field from 1990. In 1994 he was runner-up in the European Junior Light Heavyweight Championships. At the end of 1995, the 1.96 m tall Dennis van der Geest switched to the heavyweight division and was third in this weight class at the European Junior Championships. In 1997 he won his first world cup tournament in Budapest. At the 1997 World Championships in Paris , he won a bronze medal in the open class after losing to Russian Sergei Kosorotov in the quarter-finals . The following year he also won bronze in the open class at the European Championships in 1998 after losing to the Turkish Selim Tataroğlu in the semifinals . He also received bronze, albeit in the heavyweight division, at the 1998 student world championships. In early 1999, Dennis van der Geest won the heavyweight division at the world cup tournaments in Paris, Prague and Rome. At the European Championships in 1999 in Bratislava, he finished seventh in the heavyweight division and won bronze in the open class. Three months later at the Universiade 1999 he reached the finals and received the silver medal in the heavyweight division. The 1999 World Championships took place in Birmingham in October . In the heavyweight division, Dennis van der Geest was eliminated from Selim Tataroglu. In the open class, on the other hand, he was defeated by the Japanese Shinichi Shinohara in the round of 16 , but fought his way through the hope round to the bronze medal. At the European Championships in 2000 he won the heavyweight final against the Russian Tamerlan Tmenow . Tmenow defeated Dennis van der Geest in his first fight at the Olympic Games in Sydney . After losing to Chinese Pan Song in the Hope Round, the Dutchman finished ninth. At the end of 2000 he won a bronze medal at the World Student Championships.

In 2001 Dennis van der Geest reached the final in the open class at the European Championships and lost to the Russian Alexander Michailin . At the World Championships in Munich he was eliminated from the heavyweight division against the Romanian Alexandru Lungu . In the open class he was defeated by the Georgian Ramas Chochiswili , but fought his way to the bronze medal, defeating Alexandru Lungu, among others. A month after the World Championships, he won the heavyweight division at the Universiade in Beijing. In 2002 he won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division and gold in the open class at the European Championships in Maribor when he defeated Alexander Mikhailin in the final. The following year he retired from the European heavyweight championships in Düsseldorf against the Estonian Martin Padar , in the open class he received silver behind Michailin. At the 2003 World Championships in Osaka , Dennis van der Geest only competed in the heavyweight division and won silver behind the Japanese Yasuyuki Muneta . In the 2004 Olympic year he won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the European Championships in Bucharest, having lost only to the Estonian Indrek Pertelson . At the Olympic Games in Athens, the Dutchman lost to the Italian Paolo Bianchessi in the quarter-finals . Dennis van der Geest fought his way to the bronze medal with victories over the South Korean Kim Sung-bum , the German Andreas Tölzer and the Iranian Mahmoud Miran .

At the European Championships in Rotterdam in 2005 , he reached the heavyweight semi-finals and was defeated there by Alexander Michailin. With a victory over Selim Tataroğlu he won bronze. Four months later he lost to the Japanese Yasuyuki Muneta and the Georgian Lasha Gujejiani at the World Heavyweight Championships in Cairo . In the open class he defeated the Georgian Giorgi Kizilashwili in the semifinals and the Russian Tamerlan Tmenow in the final. His victory at the World Championships was his last great success. Although he still took part in some international championships, but no longer reached the medal ranks. In his last international fight he lost by byes in the first round in the second round of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing against Tamerlan Tmenow

After the end of his active career in 2008, Dennis van der Geest switched to the entertainment industry. He presented various programs on Dutch television, in particular he presented the Sterkste Man van Nederland competition until 2016 . He also performed with various DJs in the dance and house genre.

Dennis van der Geest is the brother of judoka Elco van der Geest .

Dutch championships

Dennis van der Geest won twelve Dutch championship titles as an adult.

  • Heavyweight: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
  • All category: 1996 (January), 1996 (December),

Web links

Footnotes

  1. Match balance at judoinside.com
  2. Match balance at judoinside.com
  3. Career overview at judoinside.com