Harrie Lavreysen began as a BMX Rider

As a junior, Lavreysen was an accomplished BMX rider. He crowned himself Dutch champion three times and also claimed the European champion title three times. A bright future in the sport seemed inevitable. However, BMX is notorious for its frequent and severe crashes, and Lavreysen was no exception. After suffering multiple shoulder injuries, a new injury led his doctors to advise him against continuing the sport.

A similar scenario had occurred with Olympic keirin champion Elis Ligtlee, who decided to switch to track cycling. Lavreysen followed the same path. Since BMX riders and track cyclists occasionally trained together at Papendal, his talent had already caught the attention of several trainers. After receiving the unfortunate news, they convinced him to make the transition to the track.

Harrie competes in his first international tournament and secures his first podium finish at the Dutch Championships.

Lavreysen made his international debut at the 2016 European Track Cycling Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. Due to the absence of top Dutch riders who had just returned from the Summer Olympics, Lavreysen was given the opportunity to compete in the sprint and team sprint events (alongside Carlo Cesar and Roy van den Berg). In both events, Lavreysen narrowly missed advancing past the qualification rounds. He finished 19th in the sprint and 9th in the team sprint.

Later that year, at the Dutch National Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Lavreysen earned his first podium finishes. He placed second in the sprint, behind Jeffrey Hoogland, and third in the keirin, behind Hoogland and Hugo Haak.

Harrie Lavreysen achieves his first International Successes

In 2017, Lavreysen made his debut at the 2017 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Hong Kong. During the team sprint qualifying round, he did not participate; Theo Bos, Nils van ‘t Hoenderdaal, and Jeffrey Hoogland clocked the sixth-fastest time. In the first round that followed, Van ‘t Hoenderdaal, Lavreysen, and Matthijs Büchli defeated the United Kingdom and secured the second-fastest time, earning a spot in the final. In the final, Hoogland, Lavreysen, and Büchli faced New Zealand. Unfortunately, Lavreysen’s foot slipped out of the pedal twice at the start, leaving them with a significant deficit they could not recover, resulting in a silver medal.

In the sprint event at the same championship, Lavreysen surprised everyone by recording the sixth-fastest time in the qualification round. He progressed through the rounds with relative ease, but ultimately lost the final to Russian rider Denis Dmitriev, earning his second silver medal of the tournament.

Later that year, Lavreysen competed at the European Track Cycling Championships in Berlin, Germany. There, he won bronze in the team sprint alongside Büchli and Hoogland. In the sprint event, Lavreysen reached the quarterfinals but had to withdraw due to a shoulder injury sustained in a collision with Lithuanian rider Svajunas Jonauskas in the previous round. In the keirin, Lavreysen reached the semifinals the following day but did not make it to the final. He went on to win the consolation final, finishing seventh, just ahead of teammate Matthijs Büchli.

At the first World Cup event of the season in Pruszków, Poland, Lavreysen won gold in the team sprint alongside Jeffrey Hoogland and Nils van ‘t Hoenderdaal. In the final, the team clocked a time of 42.906 seconds, breaking the Dutch record of 42.995 seconds set in 2013.

Gold at the World Championships on home Soil

At the 2018 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Apeldoorn, Lavreysen was part of the Dutch team that claimed the world title in the team sprint. He rode the final alongside Nils van ‘t Hoenderdaal and Jeffrey Hoogland. In the final, they defeated the British team, which included Jason Kenny. This marked the first time in history that the Dutch team won the coveted rainbow jersey in the team sprint.

Later that year, the team also secured gold at the European Championships in Glasgow. By the end of the year, team sprinters Van den Berg, Büchli, Van ‘t Hoenderdaal, Hoogland, and Lavreysen were honored as the Sports Team of the Year.

First individual Sprint World Championship title

At the 2019 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszków, the Dutch team sprinters successfully defended their world title, defeating the French team in the final.

On March 3, Lavreysen achieved the greatest individual success of his career to date by becoming the sprint world champion. During the tournament, he defeated Sam Webster, Nathan Hart, and Mateusz Rudyk in succession. In the final, he faced his fellow Dutchman, teammate, and roommate Jeffrey Hoogland. It was the first time since 1957 that two Dutch riders reached the sprint final at a World Championships, when Jan Derksen defeated Arie van Vliet.

Lavreysen convincingly beat Hoogland, winning in two heats, and became the first Dutch sprint world champion since Theo Bos in 2007.

Another golden year for the team sprint

In 2020, the Dutch team sprinters once again claimed the world title, this time with dominance. At the World Championships in Berlin, Lavreysen, Van den Berg, Hoogland, and Büchli set a world record twice. In the final, they were over a second faster than reigning Olympic champions Great Britain.

The following day, Lavreysen secured the gold medal in the keirin after an almost two-lap sprint. On March 1, he completed the hat trick: in the sprint final, he once again defeated Jeffrey Hoogland. This victory earned him his sixth world title, making him the most successful Dutch track cyclist in World Championship history. Previously, Piet Moeskops, Gaby Minneboo, and Theo Bos held the record with five world titles each. Lavreysen also became the first track cyclist in history to win three gold medals at a single World Championships.

In the months that followed, Lavreysen devoted more time to his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at the Open University. This was due to the closure of training facilities and the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Double Olympic gold

In 2021, Lavreysen, along with Jeffrey Hoogland, Roy van den Berg, and Matthijs Büchli, won the team sprint at the Tokyo Olympic Games. In the qualification round, they set a new Olympic record with a time of 42.134 seconds. In the final, they improved that time to 41.369 seconds, decisively defeating the British team.

A few days later, Lavreysen claimed his second Olympic gold medal in the sprint event, defeating fellow Dutchman Jeffrey Hoogland in the decisive heat of the final. He became the first Dutchman to win gold in track cycling’s premier event since Jacques van Egmond in 1932. As a tribute, Van Egmond’s son, Paul, temporarily renamed his father’s café to “Café Lavreysen” for one day. On the final day of the Games, Lavreysen finished third in the keirin, behind Jason Kenny and Azizulhasni Awang. Upon his return to the Netherlands, he and all other Dutch Olympic gold medalists were named Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau at Sportcampus Zuiderpark.

Lavreysen continued his success at the World Championships in Roubaix. He won his fifth world title in the team sprint alongside Van den Berg and Hoogland and defended his world title in the keirin. In the sprint event, he once again faced Jeffrey Hoogland in the final. For the third consecutive time, Lavreysen triumphed, winning the final in two heats.

On December 20, 2021, Lavreysen was awarded the Gerrit Schulte Trophy as the best Dutch professional cyclist. He became the first track cyclist to receive the honor since Roy Schuiten in 1974.

More gold for Harrie Lavreysen in sprint and keirin

At the 2022 UCI Track Cycling World Championships held in the Vélodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, the Dutch team sprinters were unable to defend their world title for the first time since late 2017. In the final, Lavreysen, Hoogland, and Van den Berg were narrowly defeated by the Australian team, finishing just four hundredths of a second behind.

The following day, Lavreysen reclaimed his world title in the keirin, once again triumphing over Jeffrey Hoogland. On October 16, he secured his fourth consecutive sprint world title. He dominated both the semifinal, against Poland’s Mateusz Rudyk, and the final, against Australia’s Matthew Richardson, winning both in two heats.

With his fourth consecutive sprint title, Lavreysen followed in the footsteps of Piet Moeskops, who won gold four times in a row between 1921 and 1924.

Fifth sprint World Title

At the 2023 European Track Cycling Championships in Grenchen, Switzerland, Lavreysen claimed his fifth European title in the team sprint and his second individual sprint title. In the final, he defeated Mateusz Rudyk of Poland. On the final day of the tournament, he also secured gold in the keirin, ahead of Patryk Rajkowski and Jeffrey Hoogland.

At the 2023 World Championships in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, Lavreysen, Hoogland, and Van den Berg reclaimed their world title in the team sprint, finishing three hundredths of a second faster than the Australian team in the final. Lavreysen also won the individual sprint tournament for the fifth consecutive time, defeating Nicholas Paul of Trinidad and Tobago in two heats. Only five other sprinters in history have won five or more world sprint titles.

Harrie Hattrick at the European Championships on home soil

Lavreysen once again showcased his dominance at the 2024 European Track Cycling Championships held at Omnisport Apeldoorn. For the fourth time, he claimed three titles at a major international tournament. Alongside Van den Berg and Hoogland, he secured the Netherlands’ sixth European team sprint title in seven years. He followed this by winning gold in the individual sprint, defeating Poland’s Mateusz Rudyk decisively in the final. Lavreysen has remained unbeaten in this event at European Championships, World Championships, and Olympic Games since 2019. On the final day of the tournament, he lived up to his nickname, “Harrie Hattrick,” by claiming the European keirin title with a commanding lead over Mateusz Rudyk and Stefano Moro.

At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Lavreysen competed with Roy van den Berg and Jeffrey Hoogland in the team sprint. In the qualification round, they set a new world record with a time of 41.191 seconds. In the gold medal final, they defeated Great Britain with yet another world record of 40.949 seconds. The Dutch team achieved an average speed of nearly 66 kilometers per hour, leaving the British team a staggering 0.865 seconds behind and successfully defending their Olympic title.

During the qualifications for the individual sprint event, Lavreysen set a new world record of 9.088 seconds, beating Matthew Richardson’s record by 0.003 seconds. In the final, he defeated Richardson in two heats, earning his fourth Olympic gold medal.

On August 11, Lavreysen completed his Olympic hat trick by winning the keirin, ahead of Australians Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer. Departing national coach Mehdi Kordi hailed him as the “greatest track sprinter of all time,” while former world champion Theo Bos praised his achievement as “incredibly impressive.” With five gold medals, Lavreysen became the most successful male Olympian in history. As a tribute, he was honored to carry the Dutch flag during the closing ceremony of the Games, alongside track and field star Femke Bol.