 Thijs in 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Jimbo |
| Born | 13 June 1980 Leuven, Belgium |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb) |
| Other interests | extreme sports, bike technology |
| Sport | |
| Country | Belgium |
Jim Thijs (born 13 June 1980 in Leuven) is a Belgian pro triathlete. At the 2010 Xterra Triathlon World Championships, he finished 10th.
In 1995 Thijs raced his first triathlon in Aarschot. He had a very hard time to finish the 750m in freestyle, the breaststroke swimmers exited the water with him. From 1996 he started focusing on triathlon, leaving the other sports behind him.
In 2003, 2004 and 2005 Thijs' main goal was doing Ironman races. He won Ironman Malaysia and Ironman Lanzarote in the 18–24 age group. He qualified for Ironman Hawaii twice. Finishing 87th was his best result.
After 3 years of Ironman training Thijs decided to stop practicing triathlon and start doing mountainbiking instead. In his first Xterra races, Thijs was able to place himself amongst the best of Europe. He evolved from a European top level racer to a world class racer, finishing 10th at the 2010 Xterra World Championships in Maui, Hawaii.
Xterra
Thijs competes in cross triathlon: like triathlon there is swimming, biking and running involved but it's mountainbiking and trail running on mountains, hills and in rivers instead of racing with a racing bike and running on the road. Xterra triathlon is the name of the series of offroad races around the world.
Main results
- 2x National Juniors Duathlon Champion (1998–2000)
- 4th World Championships Junior Duathlon (2000)
- 1st Ironman Malaysia age-group 18–24 (2004)
- 4th (87th overall) Ironman Hawaii age-group 18–24 (2004)
- 1st Ironman Lanzarote age-group 18–24 (2005)
- Ironman Hawaii finisher 2005
- 3 podium results on national Elite Championships
- 13 top 10 finishes in Xterra World Cup races
- 4th Xterra European Championships (2008)
- 13th Xterra World Championships (2008)
- 5 wins in 2008
Results 2010
- 1st off-road duathlon Zolder
- 1st aquatlon Bergen op Zoom
- 2nd Charleroi triathlon
- 2nd Nato triathlon
- 3rd off-road duathlon Putte
- 6th European Championships ITU Cross Triathlon
- 8th European Championships Xterra Italy
- 8th Xterra Portugal
- 10th Xterra Czech
- 12th Belgian Championship mountainbike Elite Malmédy
- 15th Zwintriatlon Knokke (mechanical problems)
- 6th Xterra Switzerland
- 10th World Championships Xterra in Maui, Hawaii
External links
- Official website Jim Thijs Archived 24 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Xterra Planet