14 August 2024
The Olympic Games are over. After a festive closing ceremony and special photo opportunity in The Hague, VU athletes return home with a record number of Olympic medals in their pockets.
11 medals for VU students and 7 medals for alumni. 16 of these are gold. Whether it’s rowing, athletics, or hockey, our top athletes proved too strong for the competition in many sports.
A look back at the events:
- Mountain biker Puck Pieterse finished fourth in her race with a finishing time of 1.29.25.
- Volleyball player Florien Reesink and her team achieved fourth place in the group stage after their match against The Dominican Republic.
- Female rowers Karolien Florijn (single sculls), Martine Veldhuis (double sculls), Bente Paulis (quadruple sculls), Benthe Boonstra (coxless four), Tinka Offereins (coxless four), Hermijntje Drenth (coxless four), Veronique Meester (coxless pair) and Ymkje Clevering (coxless pair) rowed hard on the Parisian waters. Veronique (gold), Ymkje (gold), Karolien (gold) and Bente (silver) all won medals.
- Male rowers Koen Metsemakers (quadruple sculls), Rik Rienks (coxless four) and Sander de Graaf (eight) have showcased their talent on the water. Koen (gold) and Sander (silver) both won medals.
- Track cyclist Kyra Lamberink and her team achieved fourth place in the team sprint.
- Long jumper Pauline Hondema finished in 7th place with a distance of 6.55 metres.
- Female hockey players Yibbi Jansen, Marleen Jochems, Sanne Koolen, Pien Dicke, Renée van Laarhoven and Xan de Waard won Olympic gold after defeating China in the final, with a 3-1 victory in the shoot-outs.
- Male hockey players Floris Middendorp, Jip Janssen and Derck de Vilder also secured Olympic gold after beating Germany in a shoot-out series with a score of 3-1.
- Relay runner Myrte van der Schoot reached the final in the 4x400-metre relay with her team. The Dutch women’s relay team then went on to win Olympic silver in the final.
All VU's top athletes performed incredibly well!
