Elco van der Geest

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Elco van der Geest (born May 4, 1979 in Haarlem ) is a former Dutch judoka . who ran for Belgium from 2009 . In 2002 and 2010 he was European light heavyweight champion.

Career

Elco van der Geest was successful in the youth field from 1994. In 1998 he was third in the U20 World Middleweight Championships. In 2000 he switched to light heavyweight, the weight class up to 100 kilograms. In 2001 Elco van der Geest was defeated by Israeli Ariel Zeevi in the quarter-finals of the European Championships , but fought his way through to the bronze medal with three wins in the hope round . A year later he defeated the Estonian Martin Padar in the final of the European Championships in Maribor and was European champion. Elco van der Geest also won a medal at the European Championships in Düsseldorf in 2003 when he only lost to Ariel Zeevi in ​​the final. At the Olympic Games in Athens he defeated the Japanese Kōsei Inoue in the quarterfinals and was defeated by the Belarusian Ihar Makarau in the semifinals . He lost the battle for a bronze medal against Ariel Zeevi, so he finished fifth. In 2005 and 2007 Elco van der Geest finished fifth at the European Championships.

After he had to fear the competition of the young Henk Grol in the Netherlands , he changed citizenship in 2009 and started for the Belgian association. In 2010 he won the Paris Grand Slam tournament. At the 2010 European Championships in Vienna, he won the semi-finals against Ariel Zeevi and the final against Henk Grol. The following year Elco van der Geest lost his first fight at the European Championships against the French Cyrille Maret . At the 2011 World Championships in Paris, he reached the semifinals, but finished only fifth after defeats to the Russian Tagir Chaibulajew and the Czech Lukáš Krpálek . His last fight at an important tournament was the opening fight at the Olympic Games in London , which he lost to Tagir Chaibulajew after 1:45 minutes.

The 1.90 m tall Elco van der Geest is the younger brother of judoka Dennis van der Geest .

National championships

Elco van der Geest was the Dutch light heavyweight champion in 2001, 2002 and 2007. In 2009 and 2011 he was Belgian champion in the same weight class.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Match balance at judoinside.com
  2. ↑ Tagir Chaibulajew at sportsreference.com
  3. ↑ Career overview at judoinside.com
personal data
SURNAME Geest, Elco van der
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch judoka
DATE OF BIRTH 4th May 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH Haarlem