Dennis van der Geest

In this Dutch name, the surname is van der Geest, not Geest.

Dennis van der Geest
Personal information
Born (1975-06-27) 27 June 1975 (age 49)
OccupationJudoka
Websitewww.dennisvandergeest.nl Edit this at Wikidata
Sport
CountryNetherlands
SportJudo
Weight class+100 kg
Achievements and titles
Olympic GamesBronze (2004)
World Champ.Gold (2005)
European Champ.Gold (2000, 2002)
Medal record
Men's judo
Representing the  Netherlands
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens +100 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2005 Cairo Open
Silver medal – second place 2003 Osaka +100 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Paris Open
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Birmingham Open
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Munich Open
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2000 Wrocław +100 kg
Gold medal – first place 2002 Maribor Open
Silver medal – second place 1997 Oostende +95 kg
Silver medal – second place 2001 Paris Open
Silver medal – second place 2003 Düsseldorf Open
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Oviedo Open
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Bratislava Open
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Maribor +100 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Bucharest +100 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Rotterdam +100 kg
European Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 1994 Lisbon ‍–‍95 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Valladolid +95 kg
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 2001 Beijing +100 kg
Silver medal – second place 1999 Palma de Mallorca +100 kg
Profile at external databases
IJF31776
JudoInside.com35
Updated on 30 May 2023

Dennis van der Geest (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdɛnɪs fɑn dər ˈɣeːst]; born 27 June 1975) is a Dutch judoka, who won the bronze medal in the men's heavyweight (+100 kg) division at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[1] He was born in Haarlem, North Holland.

In 2005, he became the world judo champion in the men's open division by defeating Russian Tamerlan Tmenov with ippon in the final. In 2000 and 2002, he became European Champion in the over 100 kg event. He won three bronze medals and one silver medal at previous world championships.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Van der Geest was eliminated in the first round by Tamerlan Tmenov. He sustained a minor fracture during the match when Tmenov fell on his arm, but he was able to finish the fight. Van der Geest planned to finish his Judo career after the 2008 Summer Olympics to pursue a career in the music industry, but after his unexpected defeat, he was quoted as considering entering the World Championship in 2009. However, on 7 May 2009 Dennis van der Geest announced his retirement from top sport, owing to his lack of motivation.

Outside his sport he was the ambassador of his favourite football team Feyenoord Rotterdam in the 2005/06 season. Next to that, he released his first single, "To The Sunshine", on 8 August 2008. This track was released under his stage name of Ippon, and is a collaboration with producer Ronald Molendijk.

His younger brother Elco is also a judoka competing at the highest level.

In 2011 and 2013 he appeared in episodes of the television game show De Jongens tegen de Meisjes.

In 2019 he played a role in the film Brugklas: De tijd van m'n leven.

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Dennis van der Geest". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.