| Fullname | Hindrik Harmannus Arnoldus Grol |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Birth date | April 14, 1985 (age 41) |
| Birth place | Veendam, Netherlands |
| Education | Communications, Marketing |
| Alma mater | Johan Cruijff College |
| Height | 1.90 m |
| Weight | 110 kg |
| Website | henkgrol.nl |
| Weight class | –100 kg, +100 kg |
| Club | Kenamju |
| Worlds rank | 2 |
| Worlds year | 2009 |
| Worlds year 2 | 2010 |
| Worlds weight 2 | Men's 100 kg |
| Worlds year 3 | 2013 |
| Worlds weight 3 | Men's 100 kg |
| Regionals rank | 1 |
| Regionals year | 2008 |
| Regionals weight | Men's 100 kg |
| Regionals year 2 | 2015 |
| Regionals weight 2 | Men's 100 kg |
| Regionals year 3 | 2016 |
| Regionals weight 3 | Men's 100 kg |
| Olympics rank | 3 |
| Olympics year | 2008 |
| Olympics weight | Men's 100 kg |
| Olympics year 2 | 2012 |
| Olympics weight 2 | Men's 100 kg |
| Updated | 25 May 2023 |
Hindrik Harmannus Arnoldus "Henk" Grol (born 14 April 1985 in Veendam) is a retired Dutch judoka.
Judo career
Grol competed in the 2007 European Judo Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in the men's under 90 kg, as a replacement for Mark Huizinga, who cancelled last minute due to personal problems.
He won gold in the men's under 100-kilo class at the 2008 European Judo Championships in Lisbon, Portugal. He was the youngest European Champion of that year, only 22 years old.
After a highly competitive race against Elco van der Geest, Grol ended up being the 2008 representative for the men's 100 kg category for the Netherlands at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. There, he reached the semifinals, where he was beaten by Askhat Zhitkeyev from Kazakhstan. He went on to win bronze, beating Levan Zhorzholiani from Georgia.
He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals, where he lost to Dimitri Peters of Germany.[1] Grol went on to win the bronze medal, beating Hwang Hee-tae in his bronze medal match.[1]
He competed at the 2018 European Judo Championships in Tel Aviv where he ended third.[2]
In 2021, he won one of the bronze medals in his event at the 2021 Judo World Masters held in Doha, Qatar.[3][4]
Outside of Judo
After the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro he considered starting a mixed martial arts career and trained with Gegard Mousasi in Amsterdam. Eventually he decided to quit training MMA due to safety considerations.[5]
References
- ^ "90 – 100kg (half-heavyweight) men results – Judo – London 2012 Olympics". www.olympic.org. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
- ^ "Judo - Henk Grol : " Now, I felt physically stronger "". 4 May 2018.
- ^ "2021 Judo World Masters". International Judo Federation. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- ^ Gillen, Nancy (13 January 2021). "Riner brings IJF World Judo Masters to conclusion with heavyweight gold medal". InsideTheGames.biz. Archived 13 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- ^ "Henk Grol overwoog MMA: 'Maar dat werd niets' | MMAplanet". www.mmaplanet.nl. Archived from the original on 2017-06-29.