Virgil Spier (born 8 January 1981) is a Dutch

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

who started at the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

, 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 ( , , , 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 ...

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

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. 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 as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

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

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

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 en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

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 Caimin Christian Douglas (born 11 May 1977 in Rosmalen, North Brabant) is a Dutch Antillean sprinter.

Maarten Heisen Maarten Heisen (born 11 February 1984 in Woerden) is a Dutch Sprint (running), sprinter.Patrick van Luijk Patrick Jermaine Herschel van Luijk (born 17 September 1984 in Spijkenisse) is a Dutch Sprint (running), sprinter. Biography Patrick van Luijk was born in 1984 to a Dutch mother and a Jamaican father.

and

Guus Hoogmoed Guus Hoogmoed is a retired Dutch sprinter, who specialised in the 100 and 200 metres.Gregory Sedoc Gregory Sedoc (born 16 October 1981 in Amsterdam, North Holland) is a Dutch 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 bes ...

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 Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n team they were allowed to start in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

.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

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, but in front of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. 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

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

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 conteste ...

- 10.48 (2001,

Hoorn Hoorn () is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest town and the traditional capital of the region of West Friesland. Hoorn is located on the Markermeer, 20 kilometers ( ...

) *

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 slightl ...

- 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 programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hur ...

- 13.79 (2003,

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

) *

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—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

- 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 outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior at ...

- 6.70 (2002,

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

) *

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 lon ...

- 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 7.68 seconds ( Susanna K ...

- 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 επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

- 5459 points (2001,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

)

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