EMMA IS Koen Heijnen

7 October 2025
Koen Heijnen is the face of EMMA Safety Footwear's E-BOUNCE campaign. Especially for EMMA, Koen practised his sport while wearing E-BOUNCE safety shoes.

Freerunner
  

Koen Heijnen hails from Central Limburg and is 27 years old and 1.65 metres tall. However, when jumping, he can easily clock distances of 3.20 metres. Koen is a professional freerunner, which is why EMMA Safety Footwear chose him as the face of the E-BOUNCE campaign. He's urban, dynamic and sporty. Just like the new E-BOUNCE collection! 
  

 "I was 16 when I was introduced to freerunning at my secondary school's sports day. The trainer at the time saw a 'monkey' in me and invited me to come see what it was all about. Freerunning was not really a well-known sport at the time but I was immediately drawn to it and it quickly became my sport." And he's certainly made a success of it. Koen became European champion in April of this year and finished 10th at the World Championships in August. At the age of 27, he already has quite a few titles to his name! 

Koen secretly dreams of an Olympic career. "Unfortunately, freerunning is not yet an Olympic sport. This is because our discipline falls under gymnastics. Only seven gymnastics disciplines are allowed to compete and we're the eighth. Should freerunning become an Olympic sport, it would affect other events, such as the trampoline or beam. That's why I think we don't have much chance of it happening. But because we're so 'urban', I could see us becoming one of the demonstration sports at the 2028 Olympic Games."  
 

Pushing boundaries
From the moment Koen started freerunning, he also regularly helped his trainer with the lessons. “That's why I enrolled in the CIOS sports leaders training course when I was 18. It's where I learned how to be a good teacher and the best ways to interact with children. I have built my whole life around freerunning because now my trainer is my boss and teaching is my job. I teach over 25 lessons a week to children between the ages of 6 and 18. One great thing about freerunning is that it gets children moving more. But perhaps more importantly, it also helps with pushing boundaries, building self-confidence, overcoming fears and learning teamwork. These are all valuable skills that benefit children for the rest of their lives."

Safety comes first!
Koen works for Minded Motion, the largest freerunning organisation in South Holland. He and his colleagues teach nearly 2,000 freerunners at 30 different locations in Brabant and Limburg. "We train indoors because we can use airbags and mats to safely try out jumps and moves. Just like any workplace, safety is also essential in freerunning. We only progress to the outdoors once we completely master a jump. And this involves other safety risks. Should a stone break off somewhere, a wall collapse or we misjudge the height of a building, the consequences could be devastating. That's why we always do an environmental analysis and risk assessment. What are the risks? What could happen? What's my plan if something does go wrong? I also teach this to my students: do a triple check because safety comes first!" 

Incredibly relaxed
In addition to providing freerunning classes, Minded Motion freerunners are also featured in videos, photo shoots, social media and modelling work. Koen: "Companies often want to add something 'cool' to their campaigns. This could be a chase or a somersault, for example. We're perfect for that because we are so good at freerunning. So my job includes stunt work and shoots for clothing or sports brands." EMMA Safety Footwear is one such brand. "I have spent hours at a time 'bouncing' around the city while wearing EMMA safety shoes and can confidently say that if I can freerun on them all day, it really must be a light and comfortable shoe! I wish safety shoes like this had been around sooner. I once did an internship on a construction site and had to wear those clunky, heavy work shoes for safety reasons. They looked awful and just got in the way. If I could have worn a safety shoe from the EMMA E-BOUNCE collection back then, I would have had much more energy in my steps. E-BOUNCE is comfortable and feels like a sneaker: sporty and casual. Compared to other work shoes, the E-BOUNCE is super relaxed." 
 


"I have spent hours at a time 'bouncing' around the city while wearing EMMA safety shoes and I can confidently say that if I can freerun on them for a full day, it really is a light and comfortable shoe!"