Hindrik Harmannus Arnoldus "Henk" Grol (born 14 April 1985 in

Veendam Veendam () is a town and municipality with a population of 27,752 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Veendam was established in 1648 as a peat colony by Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck. A Holland America Line cruise ship ...

) is a retired

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, 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 Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

Judo career

Grol competed in the

2007 European Judo Championships The 2007 European Judo Championships were the 18th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Belgrade, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: ...

in Belgrade, Serbia in the men's under 90 kg, as a replacement for

Mark Huizinga Mark Huizinga (born 10 September 1973) is a Dutch judoka and Olympic champion. Huizinga was born in Vlaardingen, South Holland in Netherlands in 1973. He won the gold medal in the men's under 90 kg class at the 2000 Summer Olympics by d ...

, who cancelled last minute due to personal problems. He won gold in the men's under 100-kilo class at the 2008 European Judo Championships in Lisbon, Portugal. He was the youngest European Champion of that year, only 22 years old. After a highly competitive race against

Elco van der Geest Elco van der Geest (born 4 May 1979 in Haarlem, North Holland) is a Dutch-born Belgian judoka. Throughout his career, Elco had competed for the Netherlands. In August 2009, Elco accepted the request to join the Belgian team. He achieved Belg ...

, Grol ended up to be the 2008 representative for the men's 100 kg category for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. There he reached the semifinals, where he was beaten by

Askhat Zhitkeyev Askhat Rasulovich Zhitkeyev ( kk, Asqat Rasulūly Jıtkeev, born 13 April 1981) is a Kazakh judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally ...

from

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. He went on to win bronze beating

Levan Zhorzholiani Levan Zhorzholiani (born 20 January 1988) is a Georgian judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子 ...

from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He competed at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, reaching the quarter-finals, where he lost to

Dimitri Peters Dimitri Peters (born 4 May 1984 in Gljaden, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a German judoka. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he lost to gold medallist Tagir Khaybulaev, Tagir Khaibulaev at the semi-final stage, and then won through the repechage, be ...

of Germany. Grol went on to win the bronze medal beating

Hwang Hee-tae Hwang Hee-Tae (born June 12, 1978 in Sinan County, Jeollanam-do) is a male South Korean Judoka. He won a gold medal in the men's -90 kg division at the 2003 World Judo Championships in Osaka, Japan, by defeating the 2004 Olympic champion ...

in his bronze medal match. He competed at the 2018 European Judo Championships in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

where he ended third. In 2021, he won one of the bronze medals in his event at the

2021 Judo World Masters The 2021 Judo World Masters was held in Doha, Qatar, from 11 to 13 January 2021. Medal summary Medal table Source Men's events Source Women's events Source Prize money The sums written are per medalist, and with the two additional best ...

held in Doha, Qatar.

Outside of Judo

After the

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

he considered starting a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

career and trained with

Gegard Mousasi Gegard Mousasi (born 1 August 1985), is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, currently competing in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion. As of December 13, 2022, he is #10 in the Bellator MMA ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. Eventually he decided to quit training MMA due to safety considerations.

References

External links

* 1985 births Living people Dutch male judoka European Games gold medalists for the Netherlands European Games medalists in judo Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2015 European Games Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Olympic judoka of the Netherlands Olympic medalists in judo People from Veendam Judoka at the 2019 European Games European Games bronze medalists for the Netherlands Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics 20th-century Dutch people 21st-century Dutch people Sportspeople from Groningen (province) {{Netherlands-judo-bio-stub