Approximately 5 million of the 17 million people in the Netherlands are registered to one of the 35,000 sports clubs in the country. About two thirds of the population older than 15 years participates in sports weekly.
Robert Van de Walle is a retired Belgian judoka. He was the first judoka to ever compete at five Olympics, from 1976 to 1992. Competing in the half-heavyweight category he won the gold medal in 1980 and a bronze in 1988 at the age of 34. Van de Walle won European titles in 1980, 1985 and 1986. Together with Ingrid Berghmans he was the face of Belgian judo in the late 1970s and 1980s. After retiring from competitions he ran a coaching company together with his wife. He was the head of the Belgian delegation at the 2004 Summer Olympics. In summer 2021, 14 years after obtaining the rank of black belt 8th dan; Van De Walle, currently a member of Judo Club Crossing Schaerbeek, accepted his promotion to 9th dan from the International Judo Federation.
Kosei Inoue is a Japanese judoka. He won the gold medal in the under 100 kg class at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He is well known for his specialty throws, Uchi Mata and Ōuchi gari.
Hendrik "Henk" Numan was a judoka from the Netherlands, who won a bronze medal in half-heavyweight division (–95 kg) at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. His only loss at that tournament was against the later champion Robert Van De Walle from Belgium. A year earlier, Numan won a bronze medal at the 1979 World Judo Championships. In 1992, he also competed in Japanese professional wrestling for Fighting Network RINGS as a part of Chris Dolman's team.
Elisabeth Willeboordse is a female judoka from the Netherlands, who won the title in the women's –63 kg division at the 2005 European Championships. A year later, when Tampere, Finland hosted the event, she was defeated in the semi-finals by eventual gold medallist Sarah Clark from Great Britain, and had to be satisfied with the bronze medal in her weight division. In 2010, she regained her European title, defeating Edwige Gwend in the final.
Guillaume Ricaldo Elmont is a male retired judoka from the Netherlands, whose biggest success so far was winning the world title at the World Championships in Cairo, Egypt. He did so in the 73–81 kg weight division. In 2005 he became Amsterdam Sportsman of the year. He has represented the Netherlands three times at the Olympics, in 2004, 2008 and 2012. He is a son of Surinamese judoka Ricardo Elmont and brother of Dex Elmont.
Dennis van der Geest is a Dutch judoka, who won the bronze medal in the men's heavyweight (+100 kg) division at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He was born in Haarlem, North Holland.
Jan Snijders is a retired judoka from the Netherlands. Together with his twin brother Peter Snijders, Anton Geesink, Hein Essink, Tonni Wagenaar, Coos Bontje, Jan van Ierland, Martin Poglajen, Joop Gouweleeuw, Wim Ruska, Ernst Eugster, Henk Numan, Peter Adelaar, Willy Wilhelm, Anthony Wurth and Theo Meyer he belongs to the generation of Dutch top judoka which gained their successes in the 1960s and 1970s.
Amel Mekić is a retired Bosnian judoka.
Maarten Johannes Arens is a Dutch judoka. European Champion (1995) in Birmingham in the 86 kg category, 4 times Dutch champion, winner of the 2000 Tournoi de Paris in the 81 kg category. At the Sydney Olympics he finished in 9th place in 81 kg category.
Jennifer ("Jenny") Eva Caroline Gal is a retired judoka who competed for The Netherlands at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics and Italy at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Mahmoud Reza Miran Fashandi more known as Mahmoud Miran is an Iranian judoka.
Hindrik Harmannus Arnoldus "Henk" Grol is a retired Dutch judoka.
Alice Schlesinger is an Israeli-British retired judoka and sambo competitor. Born in Israel, she competed for that country until 2014, but following a dispute with the national federation she has started competing for Great Britain, of whom she is a citizen through her English-born mother.
Van der Geest is a Dutch surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Geest is a type of sandy heathland common in northern Europe, especially in North Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Rustam Orujov is an Azerbaijani retired judoka. He competed in the men's 73 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics; after defeating Gideon van Zyl in the second round, he was eliminated by Mansur Isaev in the third round. He won the silver medal in the men's 73 kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Luis Alonso Morán Servellón(born August 4, 1971 in Tegucigalpa) is a Honduran judoka, who competed in the men's heavyweight category. He picked up a silver medal in the over+100 kg division at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartagena, Colombia, and also represented his nation Honduras at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Sagi Aharon Muki is an Israeli half-middleweight judoka. Muki is the 2019 World Champion. He also won the 2015 and 2018 European championships.
Toma Nikiforov is a Belgian judoka who competes in the under 100 kg category. In 2015, he won bronze medals at the world championships and European Games. He placed second at the 2016 European championships, but was eliminated in the second bout at the Rio Olympics. He won the gold medal at the 2018 and 2021 European Championships.
(2002, 2010)
