We’ve been on the lookout for Dutch Gymnast Epke Zonderland in Beijing, and though he didn’t bring home any medal — he finished seventh in the men’s horizontal bar final — he is still on our fav list.

Before leaving for China, the 22-year-old medical student accepted to pose in the nude for Ewoud Broeksma, a Dutch photographer with a keen eye for the athletes of his country. The photographer told Outsports.com how much he likes Epke: “He’s very open-minded and always smiling by nature, and extremely social and culturally interested. He’s 22 but looks like he’s 16 in his clothes. When I asked if he had to show his ID all the time when ordering drinks or going out he said, ‘Yes’ with a big smile.”

On his website, Ewoud Broeksma writes: “At 5′8″ he’s much taller than Fabian Hambuechen at 5′4″, somehow I guess this German competitor would never pose nude like Epke did early July this year, taking time for me because he really wanted to pose for the (now running) exhibition, before leaving for the far east.”

Epke already posed for him in 2002 with his brothers Johan and Herre, all of them gymnasts. And the fond memory he had of this initial shooting was certainly among the reasons why he accepted to repeat the experience, without clothes this time — check the Outsports gallery.

Epke Zonderland gallery on Outsports
Ewoud Broeksma’s Original Olympics
Epke Zonderland