Dennis van der Geest (; born 27 June 1975) is a Dutch

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

, who won the bronze medal in the men's heavyweight (+100 kg) division at the

2004 Summer 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 ...

. He was born in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

. In 2005, he became the world judo champion in the men's open division by defeating Russian

Tamerlan Tmenov Tamerlan Ruslanovich Tmenov (; born 27 July 1977) is a Russian judoka. He is a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, and seven-time European Champion from 1998 to 2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year ...

with

ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In judo In judo, an ''ippon'' may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the ...

in the final. In

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, 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 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 ...

, 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 Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called ...

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''. In 2025, he presents ''Bureau Onrecht'', a television series about injustice.

References

External links

* * * 1975 births Living people Dutch male judoka Judoka at the 2000 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Olympic judoka for the Netherlands Olympic medalists in judo Martial artists from Haarlem World judo champions Summer World University Games medalists in judo FISU World University Games silver medalists for the Netherlands Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade 20th-century Dutch people 21st-century Dutch sportsmen 20th-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-Olympic-medalist-stub