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.
Francina "Fanny" Elsje Blankers-Koen was a Dutch track and field athlete, best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed there as a 30-year-old mother of two, earning her the nickname "the Flying Housewife", and was the most successful athlete at the event.
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but was obliged to give way to war-torn Antwerp in Belgium for the 1920 Games and Pierre de Coubertin's Paris for the 1924 Games.
Aalsmeer is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its name is derived from the Dutch for eel (aal) and lake (meer). Aalsmeer is bordered by the Westeinderplassen lake, the largest open water of the Randstad, and the Ringvaart Canal. The town is located 13 km (8 mi) southwest of Amsterdam.
Letitia Alma Vriesde is a female former track and field athlete from Suriname, who specialised in the 800 metres but was also successful over 1500 metres. She is the first sportsperson from Suriname to compete at five Olympic Games. She won a silver medal at the 1995 World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2001 World Championships. Vriesde holds the South American records for the 800 metres, 1000 metres and 1500 metres and also for the 3000 metres (indoors).
Gerarda ("Gerda") Maria Kraan is a retired female middle distance runner from the Netherlands, who twice represented her native country at the Summer Olympics: 1960 (Rome) and 1964 (Tokyo). In 1962 she won the gold medal in the women's 800 metres race at the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade.
Elizabeth Joyce "Joy" Grieveson from Darlington, United Kingdom, is a retired track and field athlete.
Sharon van Rouwendaal is a Dutch swimmer and the Olympic gold medalist in the 10 km open water marathon at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo is a Bahamian track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. She is a two-time Olympic champion after winning the women's 400 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics and again at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Liemarvin Bonevacia is a Dutch sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. He won bronze medals in the event at the 2016 European Athletics Championships, and the 2017 and 2021 European Indoor Championships. Bonevacia earned also five major medals for the 4 × 400 m relays, either men's or mixed, including silver medal in the men's relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Yvonne van Dorp is a retired Dutch sprinter and long jumper. She won several national titles in sprinting and one in the long jump. At the 1988 Summer Olympics, she reached the quarter finals in the women's 400 m. As of 2018 she is the last Dutch woman to have qualified in the 400 m event at the Summer Olympics.
Sifan Hassan is an Ethiopian-born Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1500 metres. Hassan is the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games. She is only the second woman to complete an Olympic distance double.
Lisanne de Witte is a Dutch sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She won bronze medals in this event at the 2018 European Championships and 2019 European Indoor Championships. De Witte earned three major medals as part of Dutch women's 4 × 400 m relays.
Laurien van der Graaff is a Swiss, former cross-country skier.
Wayde van Niekerk is a South African track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. In the 400 metres, he is the current world and Olympic record holder, having set the record in the Olympic finals. He also holds the world-best time in the 300 metres.
Johan "Jan" Blankers was a Dutch athlete and coach. He competed in the triple jump at the 1928 Olympics, but failed to reach the final. He won the national title in this event in 1931 and 1932, but later tore an Achilles tendon, which resulted in his retirement and in a slight limping for the rest of his life.
Anouk Vetter is a Dutch athlete competing in the combined events. She won the silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Vetter claimed bronze and silver in the event at the 2017 and 2022 World Athletics Championships respectively. She took the gold medal at the 2016 European Championships.
Femke Bol is a Dutch track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles and 400 metres. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist in the 400 m hurdles with the current European record of 52.03 seconds, becoming the third-fastest woman of all time and the first Dutch Olympic medallist at the event. Bol is also the 2022 World Championships silver medallist and 2022 European champion. In the 400 m, she is the 2022 World Indoor silver medallist, the 2022 European champion, a two-time European Indoor champion from 2021 and 2023, and the world indoor record holder with a time of 49.26 seconds set on 19 February 2023 in Apeldoorn, beating the longest-standing at the time track world record. At all these events except the Tokyo Games, she also won medals in the 4 × 400 m relays, either women's or mixed.
Lieke Klaver is a Dutch track and field athlete who specializes in sprint races. She finished fourth in the 400 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Klaver won the silver medal for the event at the 2023 European Indoor Championships. She earned five major medals as part of Dutch 4 × 400 m relays, either women's or mixed, including silver for the mixed relay at the 2022 World Championships.
Sagitta was a female athletic club in the Netherlands organised by Jan Blankers in 1936. Integrated with Blauw-Wit into Phanos on 1 January 2000.
