Laura van Leeuwen

Laura Antoinette van Leeuwen (born April 22 1986 in Den Haag) is a Dutch gymnast. Van Leeuwen is allround, however the uneven bars and the vault are her best disciplines.

Her first notable moments came in 1999 when she took part in the Dutch National Championships, finishing 5th overall, 2nd on vault, 2nd on floor and becoming the uneven bars champion, which she also was in 2002, 2003 and 2004. In 2001 she was Dutch champion on vault.

In 2002 she took part in the International Romanian Championships winning both the bridge and vault competitions and becoming fourth overall. At the 2002 Hypotheekshop Gymnastics Top she won the uneven bars and in that same year she would become 5th at that discipline in the World Championships. In 2003 she was part of the Dutch team that took part in the World Championships in Anaheim, but only finished in 16th position. Van Leeuwen represented the Netherlands at the 2004 Summer Olympics where she finished the 46th place in the women's allround competition. That same year she was part of the Dutch team that became 8th at the European Championships. She finished 6th in the World Gymnastics Championships meeting in Cottbus at the uneven bars; In Chile she won the uneven bars World Cup and finished 5th at the beam and 6th on the floor. She also reached an 8th place in Ghent, a 5th place in Stuttgart and an 8th place in Birmingham all at uneven bars World Cup meetings.

External links

* [http://www2.sport.nl/olympischarchief2006/show.php3?spelen=40&pgr=118 Van Leeuwen at the Dutch Olympic Archive]
* [http://www.lauravanleeuwen.nl Official website]