Yuri van Gelder

On July 13, 2009, he revealed that he used cocaine three days before the Dutch championships in Rotterdam. Van Gelder said he very much regretted his "lapse" and called himself "incredibly stupid". He has since had to return his national championship gold medal, and was suspended by the Dutch Gymnastics Union. IOC regulations implied that because of the suspension he would not be admitted to the Olympic Games in 2012. He was also fired from his job with the Dutch military, as they have a 'zero tolerance' drugs policy.

In 2011, there was an appeal, by LaShawn Merritt, at the CAS against the general rule that after a suspension the athlete is not allowed to participate in the next Olympic Games. The appeal was granted and thereby Van Gelder still had a chance to qualify. For this, he had to achieve a good result at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, but he was unsuccessful.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he reached the finals on rings. On August 8, 2016 (one week before the finals), he was dismissed from the Dutch team as a disciplinary measure, because against team rules he had not returned to the Olympic Village until early the next morning after consuming alcohol off-premises. As a variation on his nickname "lord of the rings", the Dutch media immediately referred to Van Gelder as "lord of the drinks". A request of a preliminary injunction requiring that the National Olympic Committee would attempt to reinstate Van Gelder's position in the finals was rejected.

Yuri van Gelder (Gymnast) - Bio, Birthday, Family, Age & Born

Learn about Yuri van Gelder (Gymnast): Birthday, bio, family, parents, age, biography, born (date of birth) and all information about Yuri van Gelder