Virgil Spier (born 8 January 1981) is a Dutch

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who started at 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 ...

, but who is currently active mainly as a sprinter and a

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

.Athlete biography: Virgil Spier
beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 29, 2008

Biography

Spier 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 ...

, and started his career as an athlete at Sparta Atletiek in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. At this team he showed to be talented, but his performances were not at the top level yet. Due to this there are no notable results of him as a D, C and B-junior. As an A-junior however he qualified himself at the Dutch National Championships for seniors through a fifth position at the decathlon (7164 points) for the Junior World Championships in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. In Santiago he started with 10.54 over 100 metres, which was the fourth Dutch junior time in history. However, due to a

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injury he was unable to continue his tournament. A year later, in 2001 he was able to represent the Netherlands at the decathlon at the European Under-23 Championships that were held in

. Also in this tournament he was suffering from an injury, but still managed to achieve a ninth position overall. In 2002 he came in second at the 60 metres indoor held at the Dutch National Championships. At the same event he reached the fourth place at the 60 metres hurdles. With these performances he qualified himself for the European Indoor Championships in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

for both distances. He eventually was eliminated in the first round series in both occasions. The 4×100 metres relay team consisting of Caimin Douglas, Maarten Heisen, Patrick van Luijk and Guus Hoogmoed, with

Gregory Sedoc Gregory Sedoc (born 16 October 1981) is a Dutch retired hurdler. Career He reached his first international final at the 2007 European Indoor Championships in 60 metres hurdles, and won the event, equalling his personal best time of 7.63 seconds ...

and Virgil Spier as reserves, did qualify for the Olympics. Initially they finished in 17th position during the qualification process while only the first 16 teams would qualify, but due to the cancellation of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n team they were allowed to start in

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 ...

.Atleet Caimin Douglas toch naar Peking
antilliaans.caribiana.nl, ret: Aug 3, 2008 In their qualification heat Heisen, Hoogmoed, Van Luijk and Douglas placed third behind

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and

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, but in front of

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. Their time of 38.87 was the fifth fastest out of all sixteen participating nations in the first round and they qualified for the final. In the final, the second baton change between Hoogmoed and Van Luijk failed, resulting in a slow time. They still finished the race to place seventh, before the disqualified

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team. Spier himself did not participate.

Personal bests

:Outdoor *

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

- 10.48 (2001,

Hoorn Hoorn () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is the largest town an ...

) *

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

- 21.17 (2001,

) *

110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a rac ...

- 13.79 (2003,

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

) *

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

- 5.87 metres (2000,

) *

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 ...

- 12.46 metres (2000,

) *

- 7469 points (2001,

) :Indoor *

50 metres 50 metres, or 50-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a relatively uncommon non-championship event for indoor track and field, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor athletics competitions it is ...

- 5.87 (2003, Zuidbroek) *

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

- 6.70 (2002,

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

) *

50 metres hurdles 50 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling, usually only run in indoor competitions. Because very few contests are held over the distance, most of the fastest times recorded for the event were set during specially measured and timed races over lo ...

- 6.77 (2004, Zuidbroek) *

60 metres hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling which is generally run in indoor competitions. It is equivalent with the first 5 hurdles of a standard outdoor hurdle race. The current women's and men's world records are 7.65 seconds (Devynne Ch ...

- 7.76 (2002,

) *

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 ...

- 5459 points (2001,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

)

Honours

* 60 metres (indoor) - Dutch National Championships, 2002

References

External links

*
Sabine Verbeek en Virgil Spier in OranjeVirgil Spier meerkamptroef op EK < 23 jaar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spier, Virgil 1981 births Living people Dutch male sprinters Dutch decathletes Dutch male hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for the Netherlands Athletes from Amsterdam