Wilbert Pennings

For more than a decade, Wilbert Pennings was the best Dutch high jumper. Grossing in national titles (7 outdoor, 6 indoor), he never managed to make a major international breakthrough. Frequently hampered by injuries, Pennings managed to reach the final of the 1999 World Championships, and of the European Championships in 1998, 2002 and 2006. He also competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but failed to proceed past the qualification round. An aerospace student, Pennings set the Dutch record at 2.30 in 1999, improving his personal best to 2.31 indoor three years later. Pennings’s sister, Jeannette, is also a track athlete (competing in the sprint events), but is better known as a bobsledder, competing in two Olympics.

Personal Best: HJ – 2.31i (2002).