 |
 Robert Lathouwers in 2012. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Lathouwers |
| Nickname | - |
| Born | 8 July 1983 Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Weight | 74 kg (163 lb) |
| Updated on August 5, 2008 | |
Robert Lathouwers (born 8 July 1983 in Rotterdam) is a former Dutch athlete who mainly focused on the 400 and 800 metres.
Lathouwers was born and raised in Rotterdam and has a sister who is two years older than he is named Maura. [1] He started in athletics at the age of six, doing all different kinds of disciplines in the sport. He was a multi talented athlete and he won several heptathlon and decathlon meetings and was also invited to represent the Netherlands in international nation meetings. [1] At the age of 17 he decided to fully concentrate himself at the sport and started training much more intensively. [1] As the 400 metres was his best discipline in the decathlon he decided to focus on that and soon afterward he canceled his decathlon aspirations. [1]
After a period of quiet and effective training sessions he broke his personal record to 48.55 seconds, which was the 3rd time ever run by a B-junior in the Netherlands. [1] In his first year as an A-junior he ran 47.14 seconds and he qualified himself for the 2001 European Junior Championships in Italy. [1] The following year he suffered from several injuries, but still managed to break his personal record again to a time of 47.11 seconds. [1] Due to this effort he qualified for the World Junior Championships in Jamaica where he finished in the 9th position. [1] He represented the Netherlands also at the European Cup meeting in Sevilla where he participated in the 4 x 400 metres relay in which his team became third in a time of 3:06.23. [1]
On 15 February 2003 he won his first national senior title at the Dutch Indoor Championships. [1] Later that year during the Golden Spike meeting in Leiden he ran 46.78 and qualified himself for the European under-23 Championships in Bydgoszcz. [1] Together with his team mates Jordy Hindriks, Peter Wolters and Jelle Heisen he also qualified for the 4 x 400 metres relay, running 3:08.95. [1] At the European Championships Hindriks was replaced by Youssef el Rhalfioui and together they ran to a fourth position in a new Dutch under-23 record of 3:06.61. [1] In 2005 he won his second indoor 400 metres title and later during the year he won his first outdoor title. [1] Alongside Daniël Ward, Daniël de Wild and Sjors Kampen he also won a bronze medal at the European Under-23 Championships in Erfurt. [1]
Lathouwers had a disappointing year in 2006 as he suffered from injuries and was almost drowned during swimming at sea. [1] In December 2006 he was asked by Haag Atletiek to substitute one of their runners at the 800 metres. Lathouwers was sceptical about the distance however, as he never ran races longer than 400 metres. [1] He eventually gave it a try and he was the first to cross the finish line in 1:51.57. [1] Lathouwers made a huge change in his career and decided to focus on the 800 metres from then on and during a training session in South Africa he ran the 800 metres in 1:47.81. [1] In January 2008 he ran another race in South Africa in 1:46.70 and February during his first ever indoor 800 metres he ran 1:48.31, which was enough to qualify for the World Indoor Championships in Sevilla. [1] A week later he became Dutch National Indoor Champion over 800 metres and during the outdoor season he also took this Dutch national title. [1] At the World Championships he won his serie in the first round, which qualified him straight for the semi-finals. [1] In these semi finals he finished third behind Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and Abubaker Kaki Khamis and was eliminated. [1] However, his time of 1:48.27 was another personal best. [1] During the FBK Games in Hengelo he won the 800 metres impressively in 1:45.80, beating many World class runners, inclusive World Champion Alfred Yego. [1] His next goal was to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics and on 13 July in Athens his 1:45.30 was only 0.05 short to break the Olympic limit. [1] Then, on 29 July in Monaco, he secured his Olympic debut by running an impressive 1:44.75 during the Super Grand-Prix meeting there. [1] He was disqualified from the 800m heats in the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona.
400 metres (indoor) - Dutch National Championships, 2003, 2005 400 metres - Dutch National Championships, 2005 800 metres (indoor) - Dutch National Championships, 2008 800 metres - Dutch National Championships, 2008
4 x 400 metres - European under-23 Championships, 2005
Kerron Stephon Clement is a Trinidadian-born American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the indoor world record in the 400-meter sprint, having broken Michael Johnson's mark in 2005.
Brigitte Heike Meissner is a retired German athlete. She competed mainly in the 400 metres hurdles, but also spent two seasons specializing in the 800 metres. Notable achievements include a silver medal at the 2002 European Championships, medals in 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1994 European Championships and the 1997 World Indoor Championships and a fourth place at the 1995 World Championships.
Dmitrijs Miļkevičs is a former Latvian track athlete who competed in 400 metres and 800 metres.
David Gillick is an Irish international track and field athlete. He began his education in Our Lady's Boys School and attended St Benildus College secondary school in Kilmacud. He studied at Dublin Institute of Technology before moving to Loughborough University in the United Kingdom to train as a full-time athlete with coach Nick Dakin. Gillick specialises in the 400 metres and he won the European Indoor Championship in 2005 and 2007, as well as the Irish National Outdoor Championship in 2006 and 2007. He set the Irish Indoor record of 45.52 seconds in the 2007 final. The time also beat the Irish outdoor record of 45.58 and was within the Olympic 'A' qualifying standard for the 2008 Games. On 4 July 2009 he ran 44.77 seconds in a race in Madrid to set a new national record. He is also the 2009 Irish national 200 m champion.
Virgil Spier is a Dutch athlete who started at the decathlon, but who is currently active mainly as a sprinter and a hurdler.
Matteo Galvan is an Italian athlete who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. His career highlight so far is the 2009 European Indoor Championships, where he placed sixth in the 400 metres and won a gold medal in the relay.
Adam Piotr Kszczot is a retired Polish middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. His achievements include silver medals at the 2015 and 2017 World Championships in Athletics, gold at the 2018 World Indoor Championships as well as silver and bronze at the 2014 and 2010 World Indoor Championships respectively. Kszczot won three gold medals in the 800 m at both the European Outdoor and Indoor Championships. He twice competed at the Olympic Games, in 2012 and 2016, narrowly missing the final on both occasions.
Evan Reese Jager is an American middle- and long-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. In his speciality event, he won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and a bronze at the 2017 World Championships. Jager is the current NACAC area record holder in the event with a time of 8:00.45. He is sponsored by Nike and is coached by Jerry Schumacher of the Bowerman Track Club.
Karsten Warholm is a Norwegian sprinter who competes in the 400 metres and 400 m hurdles. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion, silver medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, three-time world champion and world record holder in the latter event.
Thijmen Kupers is a Dutch middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres.
Adolphus "Dolly" Jones[nb] is a Kittitian and Nevisian track and field athlete and soccer player.
Yasmani Copello Escobar is a Cuban-born track and field hurdler who represents Turkey internationally. His personal best for the 400 metres hurdles is 47.81 seconds, set in the final of the 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin.
Jakub Krzewina is a Polish track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. A frequent competitor for Poland in the 4×400 metres relay, he has won two medals at the European Athletics Championships and reached the final at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He was also a relay silver medallist with Europe at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup.
Erik Wijmeersch is a Belgian former track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events. His greatest success was a gold medal in the 200 metres at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in 1996. His best time of 20.66 remains the Belgian indoor record for the event. He also holds bests of 10.17 seconds for the 100 metres and 6.69 seconds for the indoor 60 metres.
Dylan Borlée is a Belgian sprinter who competes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family.
Guy Learmonth is a Scottish and Great British athlete specialising in the 800 metres. His PB currently stands as 1:44.73 and he is the 3rd fastest Scottish 800m athlete of all time. Learmonth reached the final at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2015 European Indoor Championships, finishing 6th in both. He was named the GB&NI captain for the European Indoor Championships in 2019. Guy has broken the Scottish 800m Junior Record 9 times and holds the English AAA U20 Indoor & BUCS Championship records.
Nadine Visser is a Dutch track and field athlete who competed in the combined events until 2017 and specialises in short hurdling since 2018.
Donavan Brazier is an American middle-distance runner. He holds the American junior record in the men's 800 meters and won the gold medal at the 2019 World Championships. With a time of 1:42.34, he was the American national and NACAC area record holder in the event from 2019 until 2024, when Marco Arop and Bryce Hoppel ran 1:41.20 and 1:41.67 to break the NACAC record and American record respectively.
Femke Bol is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in hurdling and sprinting. She specialises in the 400 metres hurdles, where she is the 2023 World Champion, and in the 400 metres, where she is the 2024 World Indoor Champion and the short track world record holder. In the 4 × 400 metres relay, she is the 2023 World Champion and the 2024 World Indoor Champion with the Dutch women's team and the 2024 Olympic Champion with the Dutch mixed team.
Lieke Klaver is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in sprinting. She specializes in the 200 metres and in the 400 metres. In the 4 × 400 metres relay, she is the 2023 World Champion and the 2024 World Indoor Champion with the Dutch women's team. She won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the mixed 4 x 400 metres relay.
