Leon Thijssen (born 15 January 1968, in

Baarlo Baarlo (; ) is a village in southeastern Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Peel en Maas, Limburg, about 6 km southwest of Venlo. Name and symbols The oldest mention of the name Baarlo is from 1219. The oldest certifica ...

) is a Dutch

show jumper Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows are li ...

.Athlete biography: Leon Thijssen
beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 12, 2008 Thijssen won his first international tournament in 2000, when he won the Grand Prix meeting in

Vilamoura Vilamoura is a coastal luxury resort in the Loulé municipality in Algarve, Portugal. It is one of the three corners of Algarve's Golden Triangle (Algarve), Golden Triangle. Vilamoura comprises one of the largest single tourist complexes in Europe ...

with his horse Hickory.Leon Thijssen
bokt.nl (horses encyclopedia), ret: Aug 12, 2008 A year later in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

he won the Super League meeting with Hot Shot. It took him until 2004 to reach another international podium, but he managed to achieve a second place in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and a third place in

Zuidlaren Zuidlaren ( Noordenvelds: ''Zuudlaoren'') is a village in the province of Drenthe in the Northern Netherlands. Zuidlaren has just over 10,000 inhabitants and is situated on natural heightened land which is called the Hondsrug. The village is part ...

, both on Nairobi. He was successful in two Super League meetings in 2005 with a second place in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

and a first position in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. With his horse Olaf he won the 2006 Grand Prix in Madrid and later that year he became second at the Grand Prix meeting in

De Steeg De Steeg is a Dutch village within the municipality of Rheden. Due to its central location within the municipality, it houses the town hall. Middachten Castle is located near the village. Several De Steeg buildings once belonged to the Middachten ...

. In 2007 his best results were on Nairobi again, when he won the Grand Prix meetings in

Valkenswaard Valkenswaard () is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the province of North Brabant. The municipality had a population of in , with an area of of which is water. The name Valkenswaard ste ...

and

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

. They also finished on the second spot at the

Spruce Meadows Spruce Meadows is a multi-purpose sports facility near Calgary, Alberta built by the Southern family which opened in 1975. The facility contains an equestrian show jumping complex that comprises . The current president and CEO of Spruce Me ...

Super League meeting. With Olaf he reached the third spot in the Super League meeting in

Lummen Lummen (; or ''Lumme'' ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. On January 1, 2006, Lummen had a total population of 13,691. The total area is 53.38 km2 which gives a population density of 256 inhabitant ...

. Then in 2008 he won his second career title in De Steeg, again with Olaf. Thijssen was selected by coach Rob Ehrens as a reserve to represent the Netherlands 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 ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Former Olympic champion

Jeroen Dubbeldam Jeroen Dubbeldam (born 15 April 1973 in Zwolle) is a Dutch show jumping champion. Dubbeldam competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney, where he won a gold medal in Equestrian at the 2000 Summer Olympics, Individual Jumping on the ho ...

and

Albert Zoer Albert Zoer (born 31 July 1975, in Echten, Drenthe) is a Dutch champion in show jumping. He owns his own business, called Zoer B.V., for breeding and training stallions, a venture with which his father, Arent Zoer, helps him. Background With tw ...

had to withdraw due to injuries and were replaced by

Marc Houtzager Marc Houtzager (born 9 January 1971 in Rouveen) is a Dutch equestrian whose specialty is show jumping.Angelique Hoorn Angelique Hoorn (born 25 April 1975 in Wanneperveen) is a Dutch show jumper. ...

. The rest of the team exists of

Gerco Schröder Gerco Bernardus Schröder (born 28 July 1978, in Tubbergen) is a Dutch show jumping equestrian. He currently ranks third on the FEI Rolex Ranking List. Gerco Schröder represented the Netherlands at the 2004 Summer Olympics where he took part ...

and

Vincent Voorn Vincent Voorn (born 16 February 1984 in Someren) is a Dutch show jumper.

References

Dutch show jumping riders 1968 births Living people Olympic equestrians for the Netherlands Dutch male equestrians Equestrians at the 2008 Summer Olympics People from Peel en Maas Equestrians from Limburg (Netherlands) 20th-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-equestrian-bio-stub