Charles van Commenee, written in Dutch as van Commenée, (born 22 June 1958) is a Dutch

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

coach. He began his professional career as a technical director with the Dutch athletics federation before moving to take up a similar role for the British athletics team in 2001. After a term as Performance Director for the Dutch Olympic Committee, he served as Head Coach of

British Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...

from 2008 to 2012. Additionally, he has personally coached athletes to international medals, including

Denise Lewis Dame Denise Rosemarie Lewis (born 27 August 1972) is a British sports administrator and former sports presenter and athletics athlete, who specialised in the heptathlon. She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics ...

Kelly Sotherton Kelly Jade Sotherton (born 13 November 1976) is a British former heptathlete, long jumper and relay runner. In the heptathlon she was the bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics and, following the disqualification of two other athletes, ...

and

Huang Zhihong Huang Zhihong (); born May 7, 1965, in Lanxi, Jinhua, Zhejiang) is a former shot put athlete from China. An Olympic silver medallist and a double world champion, she was in fact the first Asian to win a world championship in athletics. He ...

Early career

Charles van Commenee was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Holland, the son of Otto (a heavy industry worker) and Ineke (a woman of

Indo INDO stands for Intermediate Neglect of Differential Overlap. It is a semi-empirical quantum chemistry method that is a development of the complete neglect of differential overlap (CNDO/2) method introduced by John Pople. Like CNDO/2 it uses zer ...

Eurasian heritage). He grew up in

Osdorp Osdorp () is neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands. A larger area was, from 1981 until 2010, a ''stadsdeel'' (borough) of Amsterdam and in 2010 was merged into the new borough of Amsterdam Nieuw-West Amsterdam Nieuw-West () is a Boroughs of Ams ...

, a borough of the city, and from an early age he was instilled with a strong

work ethic Work ethic is a belief that work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability, virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities. Desire or determination to work serves as the foundation for values centered on the i ...

. As a young man he was interested in athletics, competing in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

at club level, but several injuries forced him to give up the sport.Mott, Sue (2001-01-19)
Lewis called him `The Volcano', but even the eruptions are scrupulous
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''. Retrieved on 2009-02-25. Van Commenee first became involved in coaching at the age of eighteen; he began teaching children while studying for a degree in

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

.Turnbull, Simon (2001-06-22)
The Interview: Charles van Commenee; The Dutch master, the mind games
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. Retrieved on 2009-02-25. After completing his

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

in 1981,Baker, Andrew (2008-09-23)
UK Athletics coach Charles van Commenee would 'welcome back' Dwain Chambers
''

''. Retrieved on 2009-02-25. he dedicated himself to coaching full-time and in 1987 he was appointed as the coach for the Dutch

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

team. Building upon his coaching success, in 1992 he was promoted to technical director of

combined event Combined track and field events are competitions in which athletes participate in a number of track and field events, earning points for their performance in each event, which adds to a total points score. Outdoors, the most common combined events ...

s and

throws Throwing is a physical action that consists of mechanically accelerating a projectile and then releasing it into a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a distant target. ''Throwing'' typically refers to hand-throwing by ani ...

by the Dutch athletics federation. He took on other coaching responsibilities, including a brief stay in China where he met

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

thrower

. He began coaching her in 1993 and at the 1995 World Championships she took the silver medal. Though this was a significant achievement for the veteran athlete, Van Commenee said that he was as much a personal mentor for Huang as he was a coach. She had moved away from home to attend a sports institute at the age of twelve and had not experienced life outside of the centre. Van Commenee had helped her adapt to living on her own and supporting herself, at the same time as he helped her to a World Championship medal.Turnbull, Simon (2008-09-07)
Golden prospect: Van's the man to get Britain back on track
''

''. Retrieved on 2009-02-25. The coach showed his stubborn and determined temperament when in 1996 he withdrew from managing the Dutch Olympic team because he felt that one of his trainees,

Sharon Jaklofsky Sharon Maria Suzanne Jaklofsky (born 30 September 1968 in Brisbane, Queensland) is a retired Dutch long jumper, who was born in Australia. A former heptathlete, she represented the Netherlands at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United State ...

, was receiving unfair treatment. His trip to the

1996 Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

was self-funded and he took Jaklofsky out of the Dutch camp for training every day. She reached the finals of the competition but faulted three times, failing to record a mark.

British coaching

Van Commenee first met British

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

athlete

in 1994 at an athletics meeting in

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

, Spain. Her coach

Darrell Bunn Darrell is a given name derived from an English surname, which was derived from Norman-French , originally denoting one who came from Airelle in France. There are no longer any towns in France called Airelle, but is the French word for huckleber ...

could not attend the meeting and Van Commenee was asked to help her through the event. Impressed with his work, Lewis moved to Amsterdam to train with Van Commenee in 1997. The pairing was fruitful for both athlete and coach; under the supervision of Van Commenee, Lewis went on become heptathlon champion at both the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

and

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in 1998 and won silver at the 1999 World Championships. At the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

she took the gold in the heptathlon, becoming the first of Van Commenee's charges to win an Olympic gold medal. However, her victory was not easily forthcoming; during the Olympic events Van Commenee was critical of her performances, urging her ever more to try harder. Despite the fact that Lewis was suffering injuries, she managed to win the event. She put much of her success and drive to win down to the fact that Van Commenee had been so strict: Van Commenee also worked with less prominent athletes, helping them improve their performances through sheer hard work—he coached

Lieja Koeman Liesbeth ("Lieja") Jantina Koeman, formerly Lieja Tunks, (born 10 March 1976 in Purmerend, North Holland) is a shot putter, who represents Canada after switching from the Netherlands in 2006. Her personal best throw is 18.82 metres, achieved in J ...

at the Olympics and although the shot putter was ranked 23rd in the world she managed to finish ninth in the competition. In recognition of his achievements, he was named as the 2000 Amsterdam Coach of the Year. Following his success with Lewis, in 2001 he was appointed by

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...

as the technical director for the jumps and combined events. As director he took on responsibilities for British athletes including Dean Macey, Ashia Hansen and

Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to: Musicians *Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford *Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician **Jonathan Edwards (album), ''Jonathan Edward ...

, though they all retained personal coaches. In 2003 he asked

to join his training group and she agreed. Although she was ranked 57th in the world for the heptathlon, she won the bronze medal at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. However, this was still not enough for Van Commenee and he branded her "a wimp" for not managing to finish in second place. Later on, he expressed regret over the timing of the comment but Sotherton stood by her coach regardless, stating: "People always go on about that quote, but they have to remember that Charles was the one who got me in the position to be an Olympic medallist...I don't think any other coach could have got me to where he did." In 2004 the position of performance director became available at UK Athletics. Van Commenee was considered for the job but ultimately decided to leave the UK in favour of becoming technical director of the Netherlands athletics team. After a successful period in the Netherlands, where he took them to their second-highest ever Olympic medal tally at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, he returned to the UK to take up the position of national head coach from September 2008. Charles van Commenee stepped down as UK Athletics head coach after the team failed to meet his medal target at the 2012 Olympics in London.

References

External links

UK Athletics website

Interview
from UK Athletics

by

Article
by

Steve Cram Stephen Cram, (born 14 October 1960) is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle-distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arro ...

Article
from ''

Athletics Weekly ''AW'' (formerly ''Athletics Weekly'') is a monthly track and field magazine published in the United Kingdom by Athletics Weekly Limited. The magazine covers news, results, fixtures, coaching and product advice for all aspects of track and field ...

'' * Articles on UKA appointment
UKA''The Times''

Team selections
for 2008

European Indoor Championships The European Indoor Championships was a men's tennis tournament played in Berlin, Germany. The event was played as part of the ATP Tour in 1990 and 1991. It was played on indoor carpet court A carpet court is a type of tennis court. The Intern ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commenee, Charles Van 1958 births Living people Dutch athletics coaches Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Dutch people of Indonesian descent Dutch sports executives and administrators Indo people Olympic coaches Sportspeople from Amsterdam Olympic coaches for Great Britain Coaches at the 2000 Summer Olympics Coaches at the 2004 Summer Olympics Coaches at the 2008 Summer Olympics Coaches at the 2012 Summer Olympics Expatriate sports coaches