Niek Kimmann

Niek Kimmann (born 20 May 1996 in Lutten)[1] is a Dutch BMX racing cyclist. Kimmann is the reigning Olympic Champion BMX Racing, a three-time World Champion, one-time European Champion, three-time Dutch Champion, and two-time World Cup Supercross winner. He is also a two-time junior World Champion.

Niek Kimmann
Kimmann in 2019
Personal information
Nationality Netherlands
Born (1996-05-20) 20 May 1996
Hardenberg, Netherlands
Sport
SportCycling
Event(s)BMX (bicycle motocross)
Coached byLiam Phillips
Medal record
Men's BMX racing
Representing  Netherlands
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 0 0
World Championships 3 3 0
European Championships 1 0 0
World Championships - Junior 2 0 0
World Cup Supercross 2 1 0
National Championships 3 0 0
Total 12 4 0
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo BMX Racing
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Heusden-Zolder BMX Racing
Silver medal – second place 2015 Heusden-Zolder BMX Time Trial
Silver medal – second place 2016 Medellín BMX Racing
Gold medal – first place 2016 Medellín BMX Time Trial
Silver medal – second place 2019 Heusden-Zolder BMX Racing
Gold medal – first place 2021 Papendal BMX Racing
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Valmiera BMX Racing
World Championships - Junior
Gold medal – first place 2014 Rotterdam BMX Racing
Gold medal – first place 2014 Rotterdam BMX Time Trial
World Cup Supercross
Silver medal – second place 2015 BMX Racing
Gold medal – first place 2018 BMX Racing
Gold medal – first place 2019 BMX Racing
Dutch Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Assen BMX Racing
Gold medal – first place 2018 Uithoorn BMX Racing
Gold medal – first place 2019 Erp BMX Racing

Career

Kimmann, born in Lutten.,[2] started BMXing at age seven, after attending a classmate's BMX training.[3] At age 15, he joined the Dutch National Team at the Olympic Training Center in Papendal.

During the 2014 UCI BMX World Championships, Kimmann won the Junior World Title in both racing and time trial.[4] In August 2014, together with Wiebe Scholten, he won a bronze medal in the team boys event at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.[5]

He started racing in Elite in 2015. At Papendal, he won his first World Cup race and at the UCI BMX World Championships in Zolder, Belgium, Kimmann became World Champion at age 19.[4][6] One day earlier, he won a silver medal in time trial.[7] Kimmann became the second Dutch BMX World Champion, after Robert de Wilde, who won in 1999.[8] As a reward for this season, Kimmann was one of the three nominees for Dutch Sportsman of the year, which was eventually won by short track speed skater Sjinkie Knegt.

In 2016, Kimmann finished 2nd, behind Joris Daudet at World Championships in Medellín. A day earlier, he won the time trail, which meant he is the last World Champion in this discipline. At the 2016 Olympics he finished seventh.[9] He fell in the quarter finals, injuring his ankle ligament and a metatarsal bone. He had to recover from his injuries between August 2016 and February 2017.[3] The serious crash of his friend and fellow BMX-cyclist Jelle van Gorkom in January 2018 while the two were training made deep impact on him.[3]

In 2018 Kimmann won the Supercross World Cup, with four wins - and had to withdraw from the 2018 UCI BMX World Championships due to cramps.[3] A year later he won the 2019 European BMX Championships.[10] and successfully defended the World Cup with the highest point total (1180pts) in history, after winning six out of ten races.

In early 2021 Kimmann left the Dutch National Team in Papendal for The UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle. He is now coached by former World Champion Liam Phillips. A few days before the 2020 Olympics, Kimmann crashed into a track official during a training lap around the BMX track, which resulted in a small fracture in his kneecap.[11] On 30 July he won the Men's BMX gold medal starting from lane 8, ahead of Kye Whyte and Carlos Ramírez (BMX rider). After the Olympics he has confirmed that he'll continue BMX racing, but he doesn't rule out the possibility of joining the Dutch track cycling team in the future.

Personal

His younger brother, Justin Kimmann, is also a BMX rider[9] and finished 8th in the Junior World Championships 2016.

Trivia
  • The Kimmann family has an indoor BMX track in a warehouse at their farm, which they use for training and shooting YouTube video's.[12]
  • During the COVID-19 quarantine period, Kimmann set the 'Garden World Hour Record' in his backyard with a distance of 20.1 km, beating GCN's 16.3 km.[13]
  • In the run-up to the 2020 Olympics, Kimmann and his partner Samsung developed FastFrame. A regular Meybo BMX-bicycle with built-in sensors. These sensors give real-time information to his coaches.[14][15]
  • After his gold Olympic medal, Kimmann received a royal insignia, which made him Knight Order of Orange-Nassau[16]

References
  1. "BMX Cycling - Niek KIMMANN". The Sports.org. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  2. "Niek Kimmann - Olympisch BMX rijder" (in Dutch). Sportsspeakers.nl. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  3. Job van Gasselt (22 July 2019). "Na de bijna-dood van zijn BMX-vriend ging hij weer presteren". NRC Handelsblad. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020.
  4. "Nederlander Niek Kimmann (19) wereldkampioen BMX". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  5. Sander Slager (22 August 2014). "Brons voor Kimman en Scholten bij Jeugd Olympische Spelen" (in Dutch). Wielerrevue. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  6. "Nederlander Kimmann verrast met goud op WK BMX" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  7. "Zilver BMX'er Niek Kimmann uit Lutten op de tijdrit bij WK" (in Dutch). RTV Oost. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  8. "Kimmann verovert als tweede Nederlander wereldtitel BMX" (in Dutch). NU.nl. 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  9. Walter van Zoeren (7 July 2019). "BMX-broertjes Kimmann delen dezelfde passie én stacaravan" (in Dutch). de Stentor. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  10. "BMX-broers Kimmann 'maken het beste van de situatie' in eigen hal" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 20 March 2020. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020.
  11. "VIDEO: Olympic BMX Cyclist Fractures Knee In Crash, Goes On To Win Gold]". Erica Banas. 30 July 2021.
  12. "BMX-broers Kimmann trainen door in eigen hal: "We maken het beste van de situatie"]" (in Dutch).
  13. "KUNNEN WE DE BESTE OOIT WORDEN!? [MET NIEK KIMMANN]" (in Dutch). Tour de Tietema. 3 June 2020.
  14. "Grootste BMX-innovatie ooit helpt Niek Kimmann naar Olympisch goud]" (in Dutch).
  15. "Making Of Samsung FastFrame]". YouTube (in Dutch).
  16. "Olympische gouden medaillewinnaars geridderd tijdens huldiging in Den Haag]" (in Dutch).
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