Thomas Van Der Plaetsen

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Thomas Van Der Plaetsen athletics

Thomas Van der Plaetsen Sopot 2014.jpg
Van Der Plaetsen in Sopot 2014

Full name Thomas Van Der Plaetsen
nation BelgiumBelgium Belgium
birthday 24th December 1990 (age 29)
place of birth Ghent , Belgium
size 186 cm
Weight 81 kg
Career
discipline Decathlon
Best performance 8332 points
society YOUR
Trainer Michael Van Der Plaetsen
status active
Medal table
European championships 1 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
Indoor world championships 0 × gold 0 × silver 1 × bronze
Summer Universiade 2 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
U23 European Championships 1 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
U20 European Championships 1 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
EAA logo European championships
gold Amsterdam 2016 Decathlon
IAAF logo Indoor world championships
bronze Sopot 2014 Heptathlon
Logo of the FISU Universiade
gold Kazan 2013 Decathlon
gold Gwangju 2015 Decathlon
EAA logo U23 European Championships
gold Ostrava 2011 Decathlon
EAA logo Junior European Championships
gold Novi Sad 2009 Decathlon
last change: December 31, 2019

Thomas Van Der Plaetsen (born December 24, 1990 in Gent ) is a Belgian athlete who specializes in the decathlon . His greatest sporting successes to date include winning the 2016 European Championships and the bronze medal at the 2014 World Indoor Championships .

Athletic career

Thomas Van Der Plaetsen took part in a major international event for the first time in 2009 and won the gold medal at the U20 European Junior Championships . After a less successful year in 2010, he again took part in the European Youth Championships in 2011, this time at the U23 European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic . At the European Indoor Championships a few months earlier, he had already finished sixth in the heptathlon, which is usual for indoor competitions. At the world championships he came in 13th place with another result of over 8000 points.

In 2012 he did not take part in any international decathlon, but won the gold medal at the 2013 Summer Universiade the following year . In 2015, the student from the University of Ghent repeated this success in Gwangju, China . At the World Championships in 2013 and 2015 , he finished in 15th and 14th place.

He celebrated his first major success among adults by winning the bronze medal at the 2014 World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland. At the subsequent European Championships in Zurich he was tenth. His greatest sporting success to date is winning the gold medal at the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam , where he set a new record with 8218 points. At the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in the same year, he was able to increase his highest score to 8332 points and took 8th place there.

At the 2017 World Championships in London , Van der Plaetsen had to give up after the fourth discipline, the high jump. Even at the European Championships in Berlin in 2018 , he did not take part after the high jump.

At the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow in 2019 , he reached sixth place. In April 2019, Van der Plaetsen started a decathlon in Germiston , which had to be stopped after three very good disciplines due to a power failure. Two months later he finished the first decathlon after two years with 8214 points at the Décastar . With that he finished third and reached the norm for participation in the world championships in Doha . There he reached 8125 points, which meant ninth place in the end.

Health problems

In an unannounced doping control in September 2014, Van Der Plaetsen tested positive for the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin . Van der Plaetsen then sought treatment because he was certain that he had not taken any prohibited substances. During treatment, a testicular cancer was found that was successfully treated.

Major competitions

Starts for BelgiumBelgiumBelgium 
2009 Junior European Championships SerbiaSerbia Novi Sad 1. Decathlon 7769 points
2011 European Indoor Championships FranceFrance Paris 6th Heptathlon 6020 points
U23 European Championships Czech RepublicCzech Republic Ostrava 1. Decathlon 8157 points
World championships Korea SouthSouth Korea Daegu 13. Decathlon 8069 points
2013 Universiade RussiaRussia Kazan 1. Decathlon 8164 points
World championships RussiaRussia Moscow 15th Decathlon 8255 points
2014 Indoor world championships PolandPoland Sopot 3. Heptathlon 6259 points
European championships SwitzerlandSwitzerland Zurich 10. Decathlon 8105 points
2015 Universiade China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Gwangju 1. Decathlon 7952 points
World championships China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Beijing 14th Decathlon 8035 points
2016 European championships NetherlandsNetherlands Amsterdam 1. Decathlon 8218 points
Olympic games BrazilBrazil Rio de Janeiro 8th. Decathlon 8332 points
2019 European Indoor Championships United KingdomUnited Kingdom Glasgow 6th Heptathlon 5989 points
World championships QatarQatar Doha 9. Decathlon 8125 points

Personal best

Web links

Commons : Thomas Van der Plaetsen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. De elitelijst van de Vlaamse Atletiekliga: 2020. Accessed January 24, 2020 (Dutch).
  2. ^ Face of the EM: Thomas van der Plaetsen. July 8, 2016, accessed November 21, 2018 .