Jelle van Gorkom

Jelle van Gorkom (born 5 January 1991 in Doetinchem) is a Dutch racing cyclist and Olympic silver medalist who represents the Netherlands in BMX. He was selected to represent the Netherlands at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the men's BMX event,[1] and went on to win the silver medal in the same event four years later at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

In this Dutch name, the surname is van Gorkom, not Gorkom.
Jelle van Gorkom
Van Gorkom at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Personal information
NationalityDutch
Born (1991-01-05) 5 January 1991
Doetinchem, Netherlands
Sport
SportCycling
Event(s)BMX
Medal record
Men's BMX racing
Representing  Netherlands
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2016 Rio de JaneiroMen's BMX
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2015 Heusden-ZolderMen's Elite Race

On 9 January 2018, Van Gorkom suffered a serious crash in training at the National Sports Centre Papendal near Arnhem. He suffered damage to his skull, spleen, kidneys and liver, as well as broken ribs and a facial fracture, and went into a coma.[2] On 13 January, the Royal Dutch Cycling Union (KNWU) announced that Van Gorkom was no longer receiving sleep medication, meaning "he must wake up from the coma on his own".[3] On 22 January, KNWU officials said that he had awoken from the coma, but cautioned that the rider still faced a long rehabilitation.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Men's BMX Racing". London 2012 Olympics. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  2. "Dutch Olympic BMX silver medallist in coma after accident". BBC Sport. 10 January 2018.
  3. "'Impossible to estimate' when BMX rider will wake from coma". BBC Sport. 13 January 2018.
  4. "Jelle van Gorkom on long road to recovery after waking up from coma". The Straits Times. 23 January 2018.


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