 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Yvonne Hijgenaar |
| Born | 15 May 1980 Alkmaar, Netherlands |
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) [1] |
| Weight | 67 kg (148 lb; 10.6 st) [1] |
| Team information | |
| Discipline | Track |
| Role | Rider |
| Major wins | |
 National champion x12 | |
Medal record | |
Yvonne Hijgenaar (born 15 May 1980 in Alkmaar) is a Dutch racing cyclist and former national speed skater.
Hijgenaar is a former speed skater who for two years was in the Netherlands national team. [2] In 2001, she switched from skating to track cycling after finding she rode so much better than she skated that she could often ride by male riders in training. [2] When her former skating teammates made technical advances better than she could, she stayed permanently in cycling.
"When I look at the number of national championships, world championships and an Olympic Games that I've ridden, I am happy with my choice," she said. [2]
Hijgenaar represented the Netherlands at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens where she took part in the individual sprint as well as the 500 metres time trial. She did not impress in the individual sprint where she finished 11th. However, her 500 metres time trial time of 34.532 (52.125 km/h) brought her fifth place. [3]
In November 2007 she trained with the national team of Australia in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. "Track racing in the Netherlands is a small sport and we do not have a coaching team available for 12 months of the year as they do in Australia. If only we did." she said. [2]
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she took part in the women's sprint, again finishing in 11th place. [4]
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Hijgenaar and teammate Willy Kanis came 5th in the women's team sprint. [5]
Hijgenaar won her fourth World Championship medal on 28 March 2009, taking the bronze medal in the Omnium, the first time the competition had been included for women in the World Championships. She was on equal points with Tara Whitten of Canada but missed out on that medal despite winning the 200 m flying start time trial and 500 m time trial events in the omnium.
She has now set the London Olympics of 2012 as a possible end to her career. [2] If she fails to win a medal, she predicts she will stop.
After the introduction of the women’s 3000m team pursuit at the 2007–08 track cycling season, Hijgenaar was two times part of the team pursuit squad when they established a (new) Dutch national record. The first one was the first time the Dutch team rode the team pursuit, and was broken later that day. She is not the record holder anymore.
| Time | Speed (km/h) | Cyclists | Event | Location of race | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3:36.901 | 49.792 | Ellen van Dijk Marlijn Binnendijk Yvonne Hijgenaar | 2007–08 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics – Round 4 (Qualification) |  Copenhagen | 17 February 2008 | [6] |
| 3:32.666 | 50.783 | Ellen van Dijk Marlijn Binnendijk Yvonne Hijgenaar | 2007–08 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics – Round 4 (Gold medal race) | Copenhagen | 17 February 2008 | [7] |
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