Weia Reinboud

runner 

Weia is a veterans athletics multiple world record holder and vegan.

  • Multiple World records in veteran’s indoor and outdoor high jump
  • World W65 Heptathlon record score
  • Vegan since 1982
  • World Javelin record for age group
  • At least 23 world records

She started competing in masters athletics in 1995 aged 45, following decades of not training at all. By 1999 she was competing in Gateshead, UK, where she came second to an athlete who set a world records for the womens age 45 age category.

Since then it has been Weia who has set records, including the W50 (women’s age 50+) record indoors (155cm) and outdoors (157cm). After she entered the W55 age category she broke the indoor and outdoor records. The outdoor record was broken despite jumping off her weaker leg.

She still holds the all-time  W65 records for both indoor and outdoor jumps and the second highest all-time jump at W55. Her W60 record in September 2010 was her 10th world record. She has also held the European W50 record for triple jump and the W45 Dutch record in Heptathlon.

Records

The picture is her world record W50 with 1.57.

Outdoor 2000 W50 (outdoor) 1.55 equalled

Later she beat it twice: 1.56, 1.57 (see the picture)

2001 W50 (indoor) 1.55

2006 W55 (outdoor) 1.48, later she beat it with a 1.50 jump.

2009 W55 (indoor) 1.48 (equalled, still standing)

2010 W60 (outdoor) 1.45 (still standing)

2010 W60 (indoor) 1.60 (still standing)

2010 W60 (outdoor) 1.47 (still standing)

2016 W65 (indoor) 1.39 (still standing)

2015 W65 (outdoor 1.42 (still standing).

While it is not an IAAF-recognised event, Weia’s double heptathlon W50 score is still unbeaten. In 2015 she broke the W65 World Heptathlon record and in 2016 broke the World Javelin record three times.

Including the times she has broken her own world records, Weia has broken 23 world records (as at August 2021).

Finding vegan

Weia has been vegan since September 1982. She and her partner were city dwellers who didn’t know much about agriculture and were vegetarians as they were opposed to slaughter.

“Earlier in 1982 we learned that for dairy products slaughter is necessary, otherwise cows do not ‘give’ milk. The article about this had as conclusion that some meat eating is necessary, but our conclusion was the contrary: no milk and cheese is the best solution. It took several months and a long distance walk (1300 km in 8 weeks) and a lot of bread with cheese to say: now! At the time we did not know that it was called veganism what we were going to do and that there were others making the same choices. Soon we learned to know some of them, there were only about thirty at that time in our country.”

Despite being vegan at an early stage in the development of the vegan movement, Weia has never has any issues among friends or team mates with her dietary choices.

She eats well, with fruit being the basis of breakfast and pasta, rice or potatoes making up the basis of lunch, with some bread. “In the evening I have a meal with lots of vegetables, rice/pasta/potatoes, salad, a soy product and always oil. And B12.”

A free thinker

Weia has also made her mark in other ways. She has been an avid collector of data on athletics records and has had articles on their interpretation published. She’s also written acclaimed essays on politics and philosophy. She is respected as an authority on dragonflies, plays jazz saxophone and is a painter.

The good news is that Weia is far from finished. “My plans are: more world records, every five years new chances. And competing as long as possible.”

No Meat Athlete is a great running resource Full disclosure: 50% of any book you buy on there goes to support this website but there’s also a ton of free resources there.

(The picture is Weia breaking the W50 world record with a jump of 1.57)

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