Elisabeth "Elze" Geurts (born 26 April 1995) is a Dutch

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

. She represented her country at the 2021 World Championships, as well as at the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2019 Summer Universiade The 2019 Summer Universiade (), officially known as the XXX Summer Universiade () and also known as Naples 2019, or Napoli 2019, was held in Naples, Italy, between 3 and 14 July 2019. It was initially scheduled for Brasília, Brazil in July 201 ...

, and was named an alternate to the Dutch gymnastics team for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Personal life

As of 2021, Geurts was studying medicine and philosophy at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

Career

Geurts has had an unusual career trajectory for an elite gymnast, as she did not make the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

until her twenties. Although she was considered a top prospect as a child, she plateaued as an adolescent and was written off as too tall to be competitive. Her progress had also been hindered by two

Achilles tendon rupture Achilles tendon rupture is when the Achilles tendon, at the back of the ankle, breaks. Symptoms include the sudden onset of sharp pain in the heel. A snapping sound may be heard as the tendon breaks and walking becomes difficult. Rupture of the ...

s. Geurts represented the Netherlands at the

and

. She qualified to the vault final at both the 2017 and 2019 Universiade, finishing eighth and sixth respectively. In 2021, Geurts won the all-around at the 1st Dutch Olympic Trial, where she also picked up the gold on vault, silver on floor exercise and bronze on the uneven bars. She was named an alternate to the Dutch team for the postponed

after placing eighth in the all-around at the 2nd Olympic Trial. Following the Tokyo Olympics, Geurts placed first on vault at the 1st Dutch Worlds Trial, and was selected to compete at the 2021 World Championships in

Kitakyushu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuk ...

, Japan, making her World championship debut at the age of 26. In the qualification round of the World championships, Geurts qualified to the vault final in second place behind reigning Olympic vault champion

Rebeca Andrade Rebeca Rodrigues de Andrade (; born 8 May 1999) is a Brazilian Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. Having won a total of six Olympic and nine World medals, she is the most decorated Brazilian and Latin American gymnast of all time, as well ...

. She also placed thirteenth on floor exercise, and was the third reserve for the floor final. However, during the vault final, Geurts fell on her second vault and placed eighth with a total score of 13.349. In February 2022, Geurts suffered a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

in her right knee while training.

Selected competitive skills

Competitive history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geurts, Elze 1995 births Living people Dutch female artistic gymnasts People from Raalte Competitors at the 2019 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 2017 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 2015 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from Overijssel 21st-century Dutch sportswomen