Douwe Amels

Douwe Jorn Amels (Dutch: [ˈdʌuʋə jɔrn ˈaːməls]; born 16 September 1991)[1] is a Dutch track and field athlete who specialises in the high jump. He won the gold medal at the 2023 European Indoor Championships, becoming the first Dutchman ever to win gold in the event and the first Dutch high jump medallist at these championships since 1977.[2] Amels claimed also gold at the 2013 European Under-23 Championships.

Douwe Amels
Amels at the 2023 European Indoor Championships in Istanbul
Personal information
Born (1991-09-16) 16 September 1991
Drachten, Netherlands
Height1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Sport
CountryNetherlands
SportAthletics
Event(s)High jump
Coached bySierd Wijnalda, Rini van Leeuwen, Marlies Larsen, Hans-Jörg Thomaskamp
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
  • 2.28 m (7 ft 5+3⁄4 in) (Tampere 2013)
  • Indoors
  • 2.31 m (7 ft 6+3⁄4 in) =NR (Istanbul 2023)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing the  Netherlands
European Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place2023 IstanbulHigh jump
European U23 Championships
Gold medal – first place2013 TampereHigh jump

He represented Netherlands at the World Championships in Athletics in 2013 and 2019. He is the joint Dutch indoor record holder for the high jump, and won almost 20 national titles (outdoors and indoors).

Career

Born in Drachten, Douwe Amels' family was interested in athletics and joined Impala, a local club, to work with coach Hans-Jörg Thomaskamp.[3][4]

In 2010, he set a national junior record for the high jump and competed at the World Junior Championships in Athletics held in Moncton, Canada. His first senior national titles followed in 2011 and 2012, when he won both outdoor and indoor titles.[3] Having reached the peak of senior national athletics, he remained in the age category competitions internationally, jumping at the 2011 European Under-23 Championships and then the 2013 European U23 Championships, winning the gold medal at the latter with a personal best jump of 2.28 m (7 ft 5+3⁄4 in).[5]

Amels was selected to compete for the Netherlands at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, but at that competition he was some way off his new best, being eliminated in the qualifying rounds with a best jump of 2.17 m (7 ft 1+1⁄4 in). He failed to improve upon his best in the 2014 and 2015 seasons (jumping 2.23 m and 2.24 m, respectively),[6] though he was also undertaking a degree in corporate law at the Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam during this period.[4] Amels appeared for the Netherlands at the 2014 European Team Championships Super League, placing ninth, and jumped in the qualifying round of the 2015 Summer Universiade.[3]

He equalled his personal best of 2.28 m in Zoetermeer (NED) on 28 August 2019, qualifying for the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, where he did not advance to the final.[1]

At the 2023 European Indoor Championships in Istanbul, the 31-year-old equalled Wilbert Pennings' Dutch record of 2.31 m dating back to 2002 to claim the gold medal, the biggest success of his career up to that point. It was the first Dutch title in the men's high jump in history and the first high jump medal for the Netherlands in these championships since Ruud Wielart's bronze in 1977.[2]

Statistics
Amels jumps at the 2011 Dutch Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn.
Douwe Amels during the high jump event at the 2021 Dutch Championships in Breda.

International competitions
Representing the  Netherlands
YearCompetitionVenuePositionResult
2010 World Junior Championships Moncton, Canada 9th (q) 2.14 m
2011 European U23 Championships Ostrava, Czech Republic 15th (q) 2.08 m
2013 European U23 Championships Tampere, Finland 1st 2.28 m PB
World Championships Moscow, Russia 25th (q) 2.17 m
2014 European Team Championships Super League Braunschweig, Germany 9th 2.15 m
2015 Universiade Gwangju, South Korea 14th (q) 2.10 m
2018 European Championships Berlin, Germany 8th 2.19 m
2019 World Championships Doha, Qatar 19th (q) 2.22 m
2022 European Championships Munich, Germany 5th (q) 2.21 m1
2023 European Indoor Championships Istanbul, Turkey 1st 2.31 m =NR
World Championships Budapest, Hungary 20th (q) 2.22 m

1No mark in the final

National titles

See also

References
  1. "Douwe AMELS – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  2. "Hoogspringer Douwe Amels schrijft historie met verrassende titel bij EK indoor". NU.nl (in Dutch). 5 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  3. Douwe Amels. Atletiek. Retrieved on 2016-01-31.
  4. AMELS Douwe Jorn Archived 2017-03-05 at the Wayback Machine. Gwangju2015. Retrieved on 2016-01-31.
  5. 9th European Athletics U23 Championships - Tampere FIN 10–14 July, European Athletics Association, retrieved 6 April 2015
  6. Douwe Amels. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-01-31.
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