Simon De Cuyper was born on October 30, 1986 in Leuven. After high school, he went to the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL).
Simon has always been very energetic, He held a brown belt in karate, regularly played a game of squash and was on the Leuven athletics team. When Simon turned 16, he became passionate about triathlon.
During one of his competitions, Rutger Beke’s former coach noticed Simon’s great talent and potential. Later on, Simon joined his team, namely the Arinso-Bik triathlon team (TDL). From then on, his career started booming. Due to Simon’s busy training schedule, Simon had to put his passion for Architecture aside and chose to focus on his triathlon career. However, in 2012, he graduated with a Master’s degree in Physical Education and Kinesiology.

Since 2008, Simon is part of the SMO-specialized triathlon team in Belgium. This club reflects Simon’s roots: his father, and sports psychologist, Bert Cuyper grew up on the countryside of East-Flanders, the home base of SMO. Besides SMO, Simon also joined a German and French team (resp. Ejot Team Buschhutten and TGG79 Parthenay).
After winning Belgian titles and matching tricolore jersey on the sprint- and the Olympic distance, he was the first Belgian male triathlete to win a World Cup.He won the gold medal at the Worldcup in Santa Cruz, Huatulco (Mexico). Thanks to this victory, he deserveda spot to the Olympic Games of 2012 in London, where he ranked 26th under the supervision of his current-day coach Stijn Goris.

Since November 2013, Simon participates at the professional sports project of Belgian Defense. With the status of soldier and the qualitative and professional staff,Simon is able to fully focus on his sport and to pursue excellence.

This site will give you an insight in his comings and goings.