Thijmen Kupers

Kupers during the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Thijmen Kupers (born 4 October 1991) is a Dutch middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres.

Raised in Lengel, Gelderland,[1] he participated in football and long-distance running as a child. He gradually became more interested in running and signed up with Running Team Achterhoek, a local group. He competed in national junior competitions and began to train regularly around 2008.[2] He placed in the top three in the Dutch junior 800 m race in 2009 and 2010.[1]

Kupers began to make an impact nationally in 2012. He set a personal best of 1:48.71 minutes to win the indoor Dutch title, then set a best of 1:46.46 minutes at the FBK Games, which ranked him second among Dutch athletes behind Robert Lathouwers.[3] He was selected for the 2012 European Athletics Championships and made the semi-finals at the competition – his first senior international event. He defended his national indoor title in 2013 and went on to run in the semi-finals at the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships. Outdoors, he came fifth at the European Team Championships first league race, then sixth at the 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships, where he was also seventh in the 4×400 metres relay. He won his first Dutch outdoor title in Amsterdam that season.[4]

Kupers won a third straight indoor title at the start of 2014 and went on to record a best of 1:46.55 minutes at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, where he came fifth in the final.[5]

Personal bests

Competition record

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2012 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 8th (semis) 800 metres 1:50.37
2013 European Indoor Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 6th (semis) 800 metres 1:50.29
European Team Championships Dublin, Ireland 5th 800 metres
European U23 Championships Tampere, Finland 6th 800m 1:47.15
7th 4 × 400 m relay 3:07.47
2014 World Indoor Championships Sopot, Poland 5th 800 metres 1:47.74
2015 European Indoor Championships Prague, Czech Republic 3rd 800 metres 1:47.25
World Championships Beijing, China 15th (sf) 800 m 1:47.74
2016 European Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 6th 800 m 1:46.67
2017 European Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 5th 800 m 1:50.47
World Championships London, United Kingdom 1st (h) 800 m 1:45.531
2019 European Indoor Championships Glasgow, United Kingdom 10th (h) 800 m 1:48.72
2021 European Indoor Championships Toruń, Poland 26th (h) 800 m 1:50.38

1 Din not start in the semifinals

National titles
  • 800 metres indoor: 2012, 2013, 2014
  • 800 metres outdoor: 2013

References

  1. ^ a b Thijmen Kupers. Running Team Achterhoek. Retrieved on 2014-03-10.
  2. ^ Biographie Archived 2014-03-10 at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch). Thijmen Kupers. Retrieved on 2014-03-10.
  3. ^ 2012 FBK Games Results - 800m Men . FBK Games. Retrieved on 2014-03-10.
  4. ^ Thijmen Kupers. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-03-10.
  5. ^ Jalava, Mirko (2014-03-09). Report: men’s 800m final – Sopot 2014. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-03-10.
  6. ^ a b Thijmen Kupers - IAAF Athlete Profile.