Arnoud Okken (born 20 April 1982 in

Doetinchem Doetinchem (; Dutch Low Saxon, Low Saxon: ) is a city and Municipalities in the Netherlands, municipality in the east of the Netherlands. It is situated along the IJssel, Oude IJssel (Old IJssel) river in a part of the Provinces of the Netherland ...

) is a Dutch

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete specialising in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

. His first international victory came at the

2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Birmingham, England, from Friday, 2 March to Sunday, 4 March 2007. Birmingham also held the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 9th IAAF Wor ...

. Commenting on the win, Okken stated that "my plan was to take the lead and keep away from any trouble. Fortunately, I managed to do this." As

Bram Som Bram Som (born 20 February 1980, in Terborg) is a Dutch Running, runner who specializes in the 800 metres. His personal best time of 1:43.45 minutes, achieved in August 2006 in Zürich, is also the current Dutch National Record. He missed the 2005 ...

won the

2006 European Athletics Championships The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...

, the Netherlands held the European 800 m title both indoor and outdoor.

Achievements

Personal bests

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

- 47.84 s *

- 1:45.64 min (2001) *

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

- 3:37.46 min (2002) *Mile - 4:07.52 min (2002)

References

External links

* 1982 births Living people Dutch male middle-distance runners Sportspeople from Doetinchem Athletes from Gelderland 21st-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-athletics-bio-stub