Nickname
Casi (baku2015.com, 01 Jun 2015)
Hobbies
Cooking, fashion. (gymstars.co.uk, 27 Jun 2019)
Occupation
Athlete
Spoken languages
Dutch, English
Club
SV Pax: Hoofddorp, NED
Coach
Dirk van Meldert [club, national], BEL
Sporting relatives
His older sister Annabelle has competed in artistic gymnastics, and won bronze on vault at the Dutch national championships in 2008 and 2011. (SportsDeskOnline, 21 Sep 2017; intlgymnast.com, 02 Feb 2015)
International senior debut
2013
Injuries
He underwent ankle surgery in June 2022. He was unable to compete at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, Germany, as a result. (Instagram profile, 17 Jun 2022)
A toe injury that required surgery meant he was unable to compete at a national qualification tournament for the 2021 World Championships. He was still selected for the championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, but was not able to compete after also injuring his shoulder and ankle. (Instagram profile, 19 Oct 2021; Facebook profile, 21 Sep 2021; netherlandsnewslive.com, 21 Sep 2021)
A calf injury affected his performance at the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. (nrc.nl, 09 Aug 2018)
In 2017 he injured his foot and was unable to train properly for three months. (Facebook profile, 05 Oct 2018)
Start sporting career
He took up the sport at age five at the SV Pax club in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands.
Reason for taking up the sport
His sister was active in the sport. "She used to teach me back flips. But I did everything in a more female way, so my father told me to go to a gymnastics club or quit doing gymnastics at home. At some point I went to watch my sister's training session and then the men's coach asked me to do a test. I went and I immediately liked it."
Hero / Idol
Dutch gymnast Epke Zonderland. (gymstars.co.uk, 27 Jun 2019)
Philosophy / Motto
"If you train hard and you really want it, you have to fight for it no matter what." (intlgymnast.com, 02 Feb 2015)
Additional information
TATTOO
He has a tattoo on his right upper arm that displays the abbreviations of all six gymnastics apparatuses. "It was my first tattoo, at age 17. Back then, gymnastics had already been a big part of my life for more than 10 years. That's why I decided to get this special tattoo." (heldenonline.nl, 05 Oct 2014)
Last update : 2024-07-22