Tonnie Dirks bij fans op de schouders, Bestanddeelnr 933-5813

Antonius Marinus Hendricus Maria "Tonnie" Dirks (born 12 February 1961 in

Zeeland, North Brabant Zeeland is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the former municipality of Landerd, about 5 km northeast of Uden. History The village was first mentioned in 1376 as Zeelant, and refers to Terra S ...

) is a Dutch former

long distance runner Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...

. He competed internationally on the track, road, and also in cross country competitions. He ran in the Marathon at the 1991 World Championships in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, finishing in 16th place with a time of 2:22:17. That year he also competed in the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

, but he only managed to finish in 29th position. The following year he competed at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, but he did not finish in the Olympic Marathon race. At the

Amsterdam Marathon The Amsterdam Marathon (branded TCS Amsterdam Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road race has a Platinum Label from World Athletics. During the event, there a ...

in 1993, he took second behind Kenichi Suzuki with a time of 2:12:27. He was highly successful at the Warandeloop cross country race: he won in 1984, 1985, 1988, 1990, and 1993, making him the runner with the most titles ever won at the competition. He was also a seven-time national cross country champion; only

Kamiel Maase Kamiel Maase (born 20 October 1971 in Nijmegen) is a retired long-distance runner from the Netherlands, who is the current Dutch record holder in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres. He retired in January, 2009. He placed 11th at the 2003 Rotterda ...

and pre-war competitor Jan Zeegers have more wins than Dirks. He won the

Eurocross Eurocross is an annual international cross country running competition which takes place in Diekirch, Luxembourg in February. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. ...

meeting in neighbouring

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

in 1991. Further success came in

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

competitions in the Netherlands: he won the

Zevenheuvelenloop Zevenheuvelenloop (''Seven Hills Run'' in English) is an annual 15 kilometres road running race held in Nijmegen, Netherlands. It was first organised in 1984 and has grown to be one of the largest road races in the Netherlands;van Hemert, Wim & T ...

15-kilometre race three times consecutively from 1989–1991, setting a course record which was beaten by

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champions ...

after five years. He won the

Egmond Half Marathon The Egmond Half Marathon ( nl, Egmond Halve Marathon) is an annual half marathon race over 21.1 kilometres that has been staged in Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands since 1973. The competition normally takes place in early January. Sections of the road ...

in 1991, and was twice victorious at the

Parelloop Parelloop (''Pearl Run'' in English) is an annual 10 kilometres road running competition usually held in late March or early April in Brunssum, Netherlands. The inaugural edition was held in 1989. In 2009, Micah Kogo broke the world record for th ...

race (in 1991 and 1993). He was also the 1992 champion of the Bredase Singelloop. At the Paderborner Osterlauf Half Marathon in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Dirks took first place 1989 and again 1991.Paderborner Osterlauf Half Marathon

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

(2009-04-14). Retrieved on 2009-11-15. Dirks retired from competitive

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

in 1995 and began training athletes, including

Luc Krotwaar Luc Krotwaar (born 25 January 1968 in Bergen op Zoom, North Brabant) is a Dutch long-distance Running, runner, who is nicknamed 'The White Kenyan'. Running career In the spring of 2003 Krotwaar ran 2:19.42 in the Rotterdam Marathon and only eight ...

Miranda Boonstra Miranda Boonstra (29 August 1972) is a Dutch long-distance runner and member of Prins Hendrik Vught and Nijmegen Atletiek. Boonstra competed in the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. At the 2006 European Athletics Championships she qualified ...

National championship wins

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dirks, Tonnie 1961 births Living people People from Landerd Dutch male long-distance runners Dutch male marathon runners Olympic athletes of the Netherlands Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the Netherlands Sportspeople from North Brabant