| Yuri van Gelder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented | Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | April 20, 1983 Waalwijk, Netherlands |
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| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Yuri van Gelder (born 20 April 1983) is a Dutch gymnast, whose best discipline is the rings. His nickname is "Lord of the rings".
Born in Waalwijk, Netherlands, Van Gelder took the gold in the men's rings at the 2005 European Championships held in Debrecen, Hungary. He became world champion in the same discipline at the 2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne, Australia. He won bronze at the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. At the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, he won a silver medal.[1]
On July 13, 2009 he revealed that he used cocaine three days before the Dutch championships in Rotterdam. Van Gelder said he very much regrets his "lapse" and called himself "incredibly stupid". He has since had to return his national championship gold medal, and has been suspended by the Dutch Gymnastics Union.[2] He was also fired from his job with the Dutch military, as they have a 'zero tolerance' drugs policy.[3]
He was pulled out of the 2010 Worlds a few days before start, with the team citing personal medical reasons and refusing to answer questions about drugs.[4] A later report said that Van Gelder had relapsed.[5]
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by Pieter van den Hoogenband |
Dutch Sportsman of the year 2005 |
Succeeded by Theo Bos |