Ruben Houkes

Ruben Houkes (born June 8, 1979 in Schagen ) is a Dutch judoka . He competes in the super lightweight (class up to 60 kilograms).

Career

Houkes grew up at the Haarlem martial arts club Kenamju . In 1995 he was the first youth champion in his home country, in 2001 the first senior title followed. He achieved his first international success in 2003 with a seventh place at the European Judo Championships. After two bronze medals at the European Judo Championships in 2005 and 2006, he celebrated the greatest success of his career to date with the title at the 2007 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro .

With this success he qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing . There he won the bronze medal after a victory against the Israeli Gal Yekutiel by Ippon . Previously, he was in the semifinals inferior to the later Olympic champion Choi Min-ho .

Houkes has been fighting for JC 66 Bottrop in the German Bundesliga since 1998 . With increasing international success, the interest in Houkes increased among other Bundesliga clubs. Despite lucrative offers from various clubs, Houkes remained loyal to the club even after relegating to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2005.

Outside of sports, Houkes works as the head of an office for sports marketing that looks after the two brothers Guillaume and Dex Elmont , as well as Dennis van der Geest - also judoka - among others . He is in a relationship with his teammate Dani Libosan .

successes

• European championships

  2003 in Düsseldorf: 7th (super light weight - 60 kg)

  2004 in Bucharest: 5th (super light weight - 60 kg)

  2005 in Rotterdam: 3rd (super light weight - 60 kg)

  2006 in Tampere: 3rd (super light weight - 60 kg)

  2008 in Lisbon: 2nd (super light weight - 60 kg)

  2009 in Tbilisi: 5th (super light weight -60 kg)

• World championships

  2007 in Rio de Janeiro: 1st (super light weight - 60 kg)

• Olympic games

  2008 in Beijing: 3rd (super light weight - 60 kg)

Web links

• Ruben Houkes on Judoinside (English)