| Epke Zonderland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Epke Jan Zonderland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented | Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | April 16, 1986 Lemmer, Netherlands |
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| Hometown | Heerenveen, Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level | Senior International | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Epke Jan Zonderland (born April 16, 1986 in Lemmer) is a Dutch gymnast. He started exercising gymnastics at the age of four. He has two brothers (Herre and Johan) and one sister (Geeske) who are also international gymnasts.[1]
Zonderland reached his first international success as a junior in 2004. At the European Junior Championships in Ljubljana he became fourth at the all-around event and he won a silver medal at the horizontal bar.[1] That same year he also became Dutch national all-around champion by taking over the title from his older brother Herre.[1]
In 2005 at the World Championships in Melbourne Zonderland and Jeffrey Wammes were the first ever Dutch gymnasts in the history of the sport to qualify themselves for the all-around final.[2] Zonderland eventually ended up on the 11th position.[1] In that same year at the European Championships he only reached the 15th position, which was a disappointment considered his World Championship result.[1]
After his success in 2005 he continued in 2006 by reaching the final of the horizontal bar competition during the European Championships in Volos, where he became 6th.[1] At the World Cup meeting in Glasgow at the same discipline he won the silver medal and in Tehran, Zonderland claimed his first World Cup win and the gold medal.[1] That year he also became Dutch national all-around champion for the second time in his career.[1]
In 2007 he competed in both the European and the World Championships. At the European Championships in Amsterdam he reached a unique performance by finishing sixth in the all-around event, the highest ever position by a Dutch gymnast.[1] During the same Championships he also won the bronze medal at the parallel bars. Later, in September at the World Championships in Stuttgart Zonderland finished in 4th position at the horizontal bar, which earned him a qualification for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[1][3] Later in 2007 he won his second World Cup event at the horizontal bar in Glasgow.[1] In 2009, he won the silver medal in High Bar at the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Therefore he was named Dutch Sportsman of the Year. In 2010, he earned the silver medal on High Bar.
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by Maarten van der Weijden Mark Tuitert |
Dutch Sportsman of the Year 2009 2011 |
Succeeded by Mark Tuitert Incumbent |