Jelle van Gorkom (born 5 January 1991 in Doetinchem) is a Dutch racing

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

and Olympic silver medalist who represents the Netherlands in BMX. He was selected to represent the Netherlands at the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in the men's BMX event, and went on to win the silver medal in the same event four years later at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. On 9 January 2018, Van Gorkom suffered a serious crash in training at the

National Sports Centre Papendal Olympic Training Centre Papendal is the national training centre of the Netherlands, located in the Veluwe woods from Arnhem. Papendal is the home base of NOC*NSF and football club SBV Vitesse. The soccer fields are also being used as training gr ...

near

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

. He suffered damage to his skull, spleen, kidneys and liver, as well as broken ribs and a facial fracture, and went into a coma. On 13 January, the

Royal Dutch Cycling Union The Royal Dutch Cycling Union or KNWU (in Dutch: ''Koninklijke Nederlandsche Wielren Unie'') is the national governing body of cycle racing in the Netherlands. The aim of the KNWU is to give adequate support for all types of cycling in the Nether ...

(KNWU) announced that Van Gorkom was no longer receiving sleep medication, meaning "he must wake up from the coma on his own". On 22 January, KNWU officials said that he had awoken from the coma, but cautioned that the rider still faced a long rehabilitation.

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* * * * 1991 births Living people BMX riders Dutch male cyclists Olympic cyclists of the Netherlands Olympic medalists in cycling Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics European Games competitors for the Netherlands Cyclists at the 2015 European Games People from Doetinchem Cyclists from Gelderland 21st-century Dutch people {{Netherlands-cycling-bio-1990s-stub

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