Elco van der Geest is a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

-born Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 judoka. Throughout his career, Elco had been competing on the judo mat under the Netherlands. In August 2009, Elco accepted the request of joining the Belgian team. He achieved Belgian citizenship right before the 2009 World Judo Championships

2009 World Judo Championships

The 2009 World Judo Championships was held in the Ahoy' indoor sporting arena in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 26 to 30 August.Women's heavyweight champion Tong Wen was stripped of her gold medal because of a doping offence, but was later reinstated....

 in Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

.

He is the son of coach Cor van der Geest and a younger brother of Dennis

Dennis van der Geest

Dennis van der Geest is a Dutch judoka, who won the bronze medal in the men's heavyweight division at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He was born in Haarlem, Noord-Holland....

 who is also a judoka competing on the highest level.

According to International Judo Federation

International Judo Federation

The International Judo Federation was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe plus Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National Federations on all continents...

's World Ranking List, as of June 2010, Elco van der Geest is rank at the number-two spot under Takamasa Anai

Takamasa Anai

is a Japanese judoka.He began judo at the age of 5.He is Coached by former world champion and olympic silver medalist Shinichi Shinohara. He won the All-Japan Championships and took the bronze medal...

 of Japan.

Achievements

Year	Tournament	Place	Weight class
2007	European Judo Championships 2007 European Judo Championships The 2007 European Judo Championships were the 18th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Belgrade, Serbia from 6 April to 8 April 2007.-Men:-Women:- Medal table :-60 kg:-66 kg:-73 kg:-81 kg:-90 kg:-100 kg:...	5th	Half heavyweight (100 kg)
2005	European Judo Championships 2005 European Judo Championships The 2005 European Judo Championships were the 16th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Rotterdam, Netherlands from 20 May to 22 May 2005.-Men:-Women:- Medals table :-60 kg:-66 kg:-73 kg:-81 kg:- 90 kg :...	5th	Half heavyweight (100 kg)
2004	Olympic Games Judo at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 kg These are the results of the men's 100 kg competition in judo at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. A total of 33 men competed in this event, limited to jūdōka whose body weight was less than 100 kilograms...	5th	Half heavyweight (100 kg)
2003	European Judo Championships 2003 European Judo Championships The 2003 European Judo Championships were the 14th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Düsseldorf, Germany from 16 May to 18 May 2003.-Men:-Women:- Medals table :-60 kg:-66 kg:-73 kg:-81 kg:-90 kg:-100 kg:...	2nd	Half heavyweight (100 kg)
2002	European Judo Championships 2002 European Judo Championships The 2002 European Judo Championships were the 13th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Maribor, Slovenia from 16 May to 19 May 2002.-Men:-Women:- Medals table :-60 kg:-66 kg:-73 kg:-81 kg:-90 kg:-100 kg:...	1st	Half heavyweight (100 kg)
2001	European Judo Championships 2001 European Judo Championships The 2001 European Judo Championships were the 12th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Paris, France from 18 May to 20 May 2001.-Men:-Women:- Medals table :-60 kg:-66 kg:-73 kg:-81 kg:-90 kg:-100 kg:...	3rd	Half heavyweight (100 kg)