Athlete

Biomedical Science - University of Applied Sciences Leiden: Netherlands

Partner Amber

Dutch, English, Indonesian, Italian, Sign Language - Malaysian

SV Pax [NED] / KTV Koblenz [GER]:

Ralf Schall [KTV Koblenz]; Dirk van Meldert [SV Pax, national], BEL

He took up the sport at age five.

He was introduced to gymnastics by a friend.

He became the first artistic gymnast representing the Netherlands to win a medal on pommel horse at the European championships when he claimed silver at the 2022 edition of the tournament in Munich, Germany. (munich2022.com, 21 Aug 2022; SportsDeskOnline, 05 Sep 2023)

To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (noordhollandsdagblad.nl, 02 Oct 2022)

Winning a silver medal on pommel horse at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, Germany. (intlgymnast.com, 17 Sep 2022)

CHANGE OF DIET
He considered quitting the sport in 2019 due to disappointing results. However, after consulting with national teammate Casimir Schmidt, he decided to focus on improving his diet and continue his gymnastics career. "When we were back in the car after training in Den Bosch, you [Schmidt] said again, 'Why don't you just try to pay more attention to your diet for a while?' Then I thought, 'Let me give it a try'. From that moment on it also went better in the training sessions and there were also results. I can still eat a lot, but only good things now. I first weighed 73 kilograms and then 68. You can see that difference in the mirror, but you also notice it in your movements. At first it was like I wasn't feeling well, but once I got used to it, everything went much easier. You have five kilograms less to balance. That's a world of difference." (volkskrant.nl, 30 Oct 2022; helden.me, 08 Aug 2023)