Simon Vroemen Athlete
Simon Frans Vroemen is a Dutch runner, specialising in the steeplechase. Vroemen has a degree in molecular sciences from the Wageningen University. He wrote his dissertation on the stress physiology of grasshoppers. He has since worked as an engineer for Shell and currently resides at Gieten. Originally a 1500 metres runner, he changed his focus in 1994 to the steeplechase, in which he has been internationally successful. On 26 August 2005 in Brussels he broke his own European record, setting it at 8:04.95, which remained until 2009. In July 2007, a year after his "final" decision to quit the sport, Vroemen returned on the track at the Dutch National Championships. He started off as a pace runner, but went on to win the Dutch title. On 11 June 2008, at the age of 39, he won a race in Cottbus in 8:12.50, setting the third-best time of the year in the world and qualifying him for the Olympic Games in Beijing. After this race, Vroemen requested a doping test and was tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid metandienone. He contested the outcome based on scientific evidence that his (legal) anti-asthma medication caused the test to report false positives. More than 1.5 years after the "positive" test and the missed opportunity to run at the Olympics, the Sports Court released Vroemen of the doping charges, based on scientific evidence that the allowed asthma medication triggered the test. During these 1.5 years, the anti-doping authorities also tried to accuse Vroemen of using an illegal infusion in 2006. Vroemen was also declared innocent in this case and all charges were dropped. Vroemen will likely claim financial damages. He is back into road racing and won the masters nationals in cross-country in 2010. Vroeman has entered the 2011 World Double Decathlon Championships. Some results at major races: 2000: 12th - Olympic Games in Sydney 2002: 2nd - European Championships in München 2003: 7th - World Championships in Paris 2004: 6th - Olympic Games in Athens 2005: 5th - World Championships in Helsinki
