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.
The Netherlands competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. Dutch athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games since its official debut in 1908. Netherlands, however, boycotted the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, because of the Soviet invasion of Hungary. The Netherlands National Olympic Committee sent a total of 210 athletes to the Games, 134 men and 76 women, to compete in 21 sports. Baseball, field hockey, and men's volleyball were the only team-based sports in which the Netherlands had its representation at these Games. There was only a single competitor in women's fencing.
The Netherlands competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. 130 competitors, 129 men and 1 woman, took part in 58 events in 15 sports.
Athletes from the Netherlands competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. 177 competitors, 168 men and 9 women, took part in 81 events in 17 sports.
The Archery World Cup is a competition organized by World Archery, where the archers compete in four stages in four countries and the best eight archers of each category advance to an additional stage to contest the Archery World Cup Final. Started in 2006, this form of competition was introduced following the success of the 2003 World Archery Championships in New York and the 2004 Summer Olympics with the intent of making the sport more popular and attractive to spectators, with the matches being held in 'spectacular' locations and the final matches being broadcast online. It has received plaudits for its innovative approach to the sport, raising its profile and reach.
The Netherlands competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. Dutch athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the sparsely attended 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis and 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, which the Netherlands boycotted because of the Soviet invasion of Hungary. The Netherlands National Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since 1988. A total of 175 athletes, 95 men and 80 women, competed in 18 sports.
Mike Schloesser is a compound archer from the Netherlands. In 2015, he was the first person to hit a perfect 600/600, hence his nickname Mister Perfect. In December 2023 he surpassed Sara López as the longest-tenured world number one. Both had been in the top three since the beginning of the 2015 season. Schloesser had been holding the number one position in the world ranking since 24 May 2021. In March 2024 he broke the record for the longest consecutive days ranked number one.
The Netherlands competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's official debut in 1900, Dutch athletes had competed at every edition of the Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, with the exception of the sparsely attended 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis and 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, which the Netherlands boycotted because of the Soviet invasion of Hungary.
Mete Gazoz is a Turkish recurve archer. He won the gold medal in the men's individual event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He also represented Turkey at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the 2023 World Archery Championships held in Berlin, Mete Gazoz emerged victorious, claiming the prestigious Individual title. In an intense final, he triumphed over the skilled Canadian archer Eric Peters, securing his place as the first Turkish archer to achieve the esteemed recurve gold medal in a World Championship.
Gabriela Schloesser is a Mexican-born Dutch recurve archer from Tijuana who represented Mexico before 2016, and has represented the Netherlands since 2017. In 2021, Schloesser and Steve Wijler won the silver medal in the mixed team event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Karen Van Nest is a Canadian Paralympic archer and shooter. She is a Parapan American Games medalist and has competed in six Paralympic Games.
The Netherlands competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dutch athletes have competed at every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the sparsely attended 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis and 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, which the Netherlands boycotted because of the Soviet invasion of Hungary.
The girls' individual archery event at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics was held from 12 to 16 October 2018 at the Parque Sarmiento in Buenos Aires, Argentina. One of three recurve archery events which comprised the archery programme, it was the third time the girls' individual discipline had been contested at Summer Youth Olympics. Thirty-two archers from thirty-two countries entered the competition, which was open to female archers born between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2003. The defending champion was China's Li Jiaman, who was unable to defend her title due to the age limitations imposed on the event.
Ruth E. Rowe is an American former archer and has also coached the sport.
Steve Wijler is a Dutch archer competing in men's recurve events. He won the bronze medal in the men's individual recurve event at the 2017 World Archery Championships held in Mexico City, Mexico. In 2021, Wijler and Gabriela Schloesser won the silver medal in the mixed team event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Bryony Michaela Pitman is a British archer competing in women's recurve events. She won the gold medal in the women's recurve team event at the 2019 European Games held in Minsk, Belarus. Earlier in 2019, she won the bronze medal in the women's team recurve event at the World Archery Championships held in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
An San is a South Korean archer competing in women's recurve events. She won three gold medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in the women's team, mixed team and individual events, becoming the first archer in Olympic history to do so at a single Games. An also set a new Olympic Record scoring 680 points at the Women's Individual Archery's Ranking Round. The previous record of 673 points was set by Ukrainian Lina Herasymenko at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Kim Je-deok is a South Korean archer. He is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, winning in the mixed team and men's team events at the 2020 Summer Olympics as well as the men's team events at the 2024 Summer Olympics. He was the youngest archer competing at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Quinty Roeffen is a Dutch recurve archer. Roeffen is the 2024 European Archery Junior Champion and won a gold medal at the 2024 Junior Indoor World Series. She is a member of the Dutch women's recurve team that won a silver medal at the 2024 European Archery Championships and qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Lim Si-hyeon is a South Korean archer. She won three gold medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the individual, team and mixed team events. By virtue of winning all three gold medals in the same Olympic Games, Lim became the second person to do so, matching her compatriot, An San, at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She also set the world & Olympic records in the preliminary round of the women's individual event, scoring 694 out of a maximum of 720, thereby surpassing fellow South Korean Kang Chae-young's 692 and An San's 680, respectively.
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