Willem Coertzen (born 30 December 1982, in

Nigel Nigel ( ) is an English language, English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is commonly found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walte ...

) is a South African

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who competes in the decathlon. He was the silver medallist in the event at the

African Championships in Athletics The African Championships in Athletics is a continental athletics event organized by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), the continental association for the sport in Africa. Since its inaugural edition in 1979 it was at first organise ...

in 2008. He is the current South African national record holder in the event with his score of 8343.

Athletics career

He began taking part in decathlon competitions in 2007 for Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where he won the South of England Combined Events Championship in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

with a total of 7245 points. The following year he returned to his native South Africa to win his first national decathlon title, then recorded a personal best of 7721 points in

Réduit A reduit is a fortified structure such as a citadel or a keep into which the defending troops can retreat when the outer defences are breached. The term is also used to describe an area of a country, which, through a ring of heavy fortifications o ...

.Willem Coertzen
Power of 10. Retrieved on 18 June 2011. A month later at the

2008 African Championships in Athletics The 16th African Championships in Athletics was held in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, from April 30 to May 4, 2008. The competition venue was the Addis Ababa Stadium. It is the largest Athletics event held in Ethiopia to date. It was t ...

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, he took the silver medal in the decathlon behind Algeria's Larbi Bouraada and also managed a bronze medal in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

event with a modest clearance of 4.00 m. He underwent a groin operation in November that year, leading him to miss the following year's national championships. 1500mM heat2 at TNT Fortuna Meeting in Kladno 16June2011 0179

1500mM heat2 at TNT Fortuna Meeting in Kladno 16June2011 0179

The following May he completed two decathlons: he set a new South African record in the event with a score of 7907 points for third place at the

Multistars Multistars is an annual international Combined track and field events competition held in Lana, South Tyrol, Lana, Italy in late April or early May as part of the IAAF World Combined Events Challenge. Established in 1988 the meeting took place in ...

meeting in

Desenzano del Garda Desenzano del Garda ( lmo, label= Brescian, Dezensà) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy, on the southwestern shore of Lake Garda. It borders the communes of Castiglione delle Stiviere, Lonato, Padenghe sul ...

. Although he was eleventh at the

2009 Hypo-Meeting The 35th edition of the annual Hypo-Meeting took place on 30 and 31 May 2009 in Götzis, Austria. The track and field competition, featuring a decathlon (men) and a heptathlon (women) event, was part of the 2009 IAAF World Combined Events Challenge ...

Götzis Götzis is a town in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg. The Alpine Rhine valley municipality belongs to the district of Feldkirch. Population Events The town is well known for its annual hypo-combined events meeting, the so-called Hyp ...

later that month, he improved his record further with a total of 8054 points, clearing the 8000-point mark for the first time in his career. He was selected to represent his country at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

and he significantly improved upon his past marks. Reflecting upon his performance of 8146 points in the men's decathlon in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, he said: "Six personal bests out of 10 events, 14th in the world, and a new national record - who could be unhappy with that?". One of these personal bests was in the pole vault, which he achieved after an incident where his pole snapped in three places during a jump. He competed sparingly in 2010, but returned to international competition the following year. He edged out Olympic medallist

Dmitriy Karpov Dmitriy Vasilyevich Karpov (Дмитрий Васильевич Карпов; born 23 July 1981 in Karaganda) is an athlete from Kazakhstan who competes in decathlon and heptathlon (the latter during the winter season). He won the bronze medal ...

at the TNT - Fortuna Meeting in June 2011, taking third place with a score of 8094 points (which included personal bests in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

, shot put and

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

). He improved his national record to 8244 points at the 2012 South African Championships, setting bests in the pole vault, 1500 m, and javelin throw. He came a close second to

Damian Warner Damian David George Warner (born November 4, 1989) is a Canadian track and field athlete specializing in decathlon. He is the 2020 Olympic champion and a three-time World medallist (silver in 2015, bronze in 2013 and 2019). Warner also won the ...

at the 2013 Decastar meeting, finishing with 8118 points (including a 2.08 m personal best in the high jump). At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he competed in the decathlon, where he competed in the first four events before pulling out before the start of the 400 metres.

Statistics

Personal bests

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coertzen, Willem 1982 births Living people People from Nigel, Gauteng South African decathletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of South Africa Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for South Africa Sportspeople from Gauteng Commonwealth Games competitors for South Africa