Lieke Wevers

Lieke Wevers
— Gymnast ♀ —
Country represented  Netherlands
Born (1991-09-17) September 17, 1991
Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Weight 54 kg (119 lb)[2]
Discipline Women's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team 2009 - present
Club Bosan Ton Almelo
Head coach(es) Vincent Wevers
Medal record
Representing  Netherlands
European Games
2015 Baku Balance beam
2015 Baku Team
2015 Baku All-around
2015 Baku Floor exercise

Lieke Wevers (born September 17, 1991, in Leeuwarden) is a Dutch artistic gymnast. She was the first Dutch woman to win a European title in gymnastics: at the 2015 European Games, she won the gold medal on the balance beam and was the bronze medallist with the Dutch team, in the floor exercise and in the individual all-around final.[2]

Wevers is six minutes younger than her fraternal twin, Sanne, who is an Olympic gold medalist.[3] They are both members of the Dutch national gymnastics team and are coached by their father, Vincent.[4] Lieke studies psychology and speaks Dutch, English, German, and French.[2]

Early life and training

In 1992, Wevers and her family moved to Oldenzaal. When she was 12, she and her sister started training with their father at a local club in Dronrijp. The family later moved to Twente, and the twins started training at Top Gymnastics Eastern Netherlands (Dutch: Topturnen Oost-Nederland). Her parents helped turn it into a high-level sports facility called BosanTON.

In 2013, Vincent Wevers had an argument with the management of the facility and was fired. Ultimately, the twins moved with their father to Heerenveen to train, while their mother stayed in Oldenzaal.

Gymnastics career

Wevers' international debut was at the 2009 Cottbus World Cup, where she won silver on beam behind Marta Pihan-Kulesza[5] of Poland and finished eighth on the uneven bars.[6] However, at the 2009 European Championships, she tore her ACL and she did not compete for another two years.[4]

She made her comeback to competition at the 2011 World Championships. In the qualification round, she competed on bars, beam, and floor[7] to help the Dutch team finish in 13th. This result qualified them for the 2012 Olympic Test Event, but at the Test Event, the team finished in eighth and did not qualify for the Olympics.[8][9] Afterward, Wevers had surgery on both of her wrists.[4]

Wevers returned to competition in 2014. She competed at the 2014 European Championships with her sister, and they helped the Netherlands finish ninth.[10] At the Dutch National Championships, she finished 11th in the all-around and fifth on beam.[11] At the 2014 World Championships, Lieke helped the Dutch team finish tenth.[12]

At the 2015 European Games, Wevers won a gold medal on the balance beam and bronze medals with the Dutch team, in the all-around, and on floor exercise.[2] At the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, she helped the Netherlands finish eighth in the team competition. Individually, she was 13th in the all-around and eighth on floor exercise.[13]

In July 2016, Wevers was named to the Dutch team for the 2016 Summer Olympics, and her sister Sanne also made the team.[14] She helped the Netherlands finish seventh in the team competition and also qualified to the individual all-around final, where she finished 20th.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "This is Lieke". Gymnastics with Sanne & Lieke. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Athletes - Lieke WEVERS". Baku 2015 1st European Games. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "History". Gymnastics with Sanne and Lieke. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Turner, Amanda (12 May 2014). "IG Online Interview: Lieke and Sanne Wevers (Netherlands)". International Gymnast Magazine Online. International Gymnast Magazine. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  5. ↑ "Results Balance Beam Finale 2009 Cottbus World Cup" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 22 March 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Results Uneven Bars Finale 2009 Cottbus World Cup" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 21 March 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "All-Around Results Women's Qualification" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Gymnastics Artistic Women Qualification Results" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  9. ↑ Rocha, Felipe (11 January 2012). "Equipe feminina de ginástica se recupera de fiascos recentes e se classifica para a Olimpíada". UOL 2012 Olympics (in Portuguese). Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "30th European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Team Championships Seniors Qualifications for CIII & CIV" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "Wedstrijduitslag meerkamp" (PDF). Gymnastics Results (in Dutch). 21 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "Women's Qualification Team Results" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  13. 1 2 "WEVERS Lieke". fig-gymnastics.com. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  14. ↑ "Turnsters Lieke en Sanne Wevers officieel naar Olympische Spelen". RTV Oost. 2016-07-10. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
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