OK, here it is...an updated list of names (or teams) that will participate on behalf of The Netherlands in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. This list is pretty much final.



Archery (August 9 - 15)
No Dutch contestants.



Athletics (August 15 - 24)
Men:
Caimin Douglas (4x100m relay)
Martin Heisen (4x100m relay)
Guus Hoogmoed (4x100m relay)
Patrick van Luijk (4x100m relay)
Kamiel Maase (marathon)
Eugène Martineau (decathlon)
Gregory Sedoc (110m hurdles, 4x100m relay)
Rutger Smith (shot put, discus)
Virgil Spier (4x100m relay)
Marcel van de Westen (110m hurdles)

Women:
Laurien Hoos (pentathlon)
Jolanda Keizer (pentathlon)
Hilda Kibet (10,000m)
Lornah Kiplagat (10,000m)



Badminton (August 9 - 17)
No Dutch contestants.


Baseball (August 13 - 23)
One team (of course), 24 men. I'll not list their names here.


Basketball (August 9 - 24)
We're not there (well, were we ever...?). The basket is all yours, Team USA.


Beach Volleyball (August 9 - 22)
Men:
Emiel Boersma / Bram Ronnes
Reinder Nummerdor / Bart Schuil (current European Champions)

Women:
Rebekka Kadijk / Merel Mooren


Boxing (August 9 - 24)
No Dutch contestants.


Canoe/Kayak (August 11 - 14 and 18 - 23)
Men:
Robert Bouten (slalom)

Women:
Ariane Herde (slalom)


Cycling (Road) (August 9, 10 and 13)
Men:
Stef Clement (road race, time trial individual)
Laurens ten Dam (road race)
Robert Gesink (road race, time trial individual)
Karsten Kroon (road race)
Niki Terpstra (road race)


Women:
Chantal Beltman (road race)
Mirjam Melchers (road race, time trial individual)
Marianne Vos (road race, time trial individual)



Cycling (Track) (August 15 - 19)
Men:
Theo Bos (sprint team, sprint individual, keirin)
Levi Heimans (pursuit team, pursuit individual)
Jenning Huizinga (pursuit team, pursuit individual)
Pim Ligthart (pursuit team, points race)
Jens Mouris (pursuit team, pursuit individual, madison)
Teun Mulder (sprint team, sprint individual, keirin)
Peter Schep (pursuit team, madison, points race)
Robert Slippens (pursuit team, madison)
Wim Stroetinga (pursuit team, madison, points race)
Niki Terpstra (pursuit team)
Tim Veldt (sprint team)


Women:
Yvonne Hijgenaar (sprint individual)
Willy Kanis (sprint individual)
Marianne Vos (points race)


Cycling (BMX) (August 20 and 21)
Men:
Raymond van der Biezen
Robert de Wilde
Rob van den Wildenberg

Women:
Lieke Klaus



Cycling (Mountain Bike) (August 22 and 23)
Men:
Bart Brentjens
Rudi van Houts

Women:
Elsbeth Vink



Diving (August 10 - 23)
No Dutch contestants.



Equestrian (Eventing) (August 9 - 13)
Tim Lips



Equestrian (Dressage) (August 13 - 16 and 19 - 20)
Anky van Grunsven
Hans Peter Minderhoud
Imke Schellekens- Bartels



Equestrian (Jumping) (August 15, 17 - 19, 21 - 24)
Angelique Hoorn
Marc Houtzager
Gerco Schröder
Vincent Voorn



Fencing (August 9 - 17)
Men:
Bas Verwijlen (sword)

Women:
Indra Angad-Gaur (foil)



Football (August 6 - 23)
Men's team; I won't list their names here (18 players).


Gymnastics (artistic) (August 9 - 19)
Men:
Epke Zonderland

Women:
Suzanne Harmes


Gymnastics (trampoline) (August 16 - 19)
No Dutch contestants.


Gymnastics (rhythmic) (August 21 - 24)
No Dutch contestants.


Handball (August 9 - 24)
No Dutch teams.


Hockey (August 10 - 23)
Both the men's team and the women's team have qualified.
I will not list their names here (17 men, 16 women).


Judo (August 9 - 15)
Men:
Dex Elmont (-66 kg)
Guillaume Elmont (-81 kg)
Dennis van der Geest (open category)
Henk Grol (-100 kg)
Ruben Houkes (-60 kg)
Mark Huizinga (-90 kg)

Women:
Edith Bosch (-70 kg)
Deborah Gravenstijn (-57 kg)
Carola Uilenhoed (78+ kg)
Elisabeth Willeboordse (-63 kg)


Modern Pentathlon (August 21 and 22)
No Dutch contestants.


Rowing (August 9 - 17)
Men:
Skiff (Sjoerd Hamburger)
Coxless Four
Light coxless Four
Eight

Women:
Double Two
Eight



Sailing (August 9 - 24)
Men:
Mitch Booth (Tornado)
Casper Bouman (RS:X)
Kalle Coster (470)
Sven Coster (470)
Pim Nieuwenhuis (Tornado)
Pieter-Jan Postma (Finn)
Rutger van Schaardenburg (Laser)


Women:
Lobke Berkhout (470)
Annemieke Bes (Yngling)
Marcelien de Koning (470)
Mandy Mulder (Yngling)
Merel Witteveen (Yngling)


Shooting (August 9 - 17)
No Dutch contestants.



Softball (August 12 - 21)
Dutch team (15 women). I won't list their names.


Swimming (August 9 - 21)
Men:
Robin van Aggele (200m medley, 100m butterfly,  4x100m medley)
Nick Driebergen (100m / 200m backstroke, 4x100m medley)
Pieter van den Hoogenband (100m / 200m / 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley)
Robert Lijesen (4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley)
Thijs van Valkengoed (100m breast stroke)
Bas van Velthoven (4x100m freestyle)
Maarten van der Weijden (10km open water)
Mitja Zastrow (100m / 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley)


Women:
Linda Bank (4x200m freestyle)
Inge Dekker (50m / 100m / 200m freestyle, 100m butterfly,  4x200m freestyle, 4x100m medley)
Edith van Dijk (10km open water)
Chantal Groot (100m medley (??), 4x100m freestyle)
Femke Heemskerk (4x100m / 4x200m freestyle)
Saskia de Jonge (4x100m freestyle)
Ranomi Kromowidjojo (50m / 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley)
Manon van Rooijen (4x100m / 4x200m freestyle)
Hinkelien Schreuder (50m / 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley)
Jolijn van Valkengoed (unknown)
Marleen Veldhuis (50m / 100m / 4x100m freestyle)



Synchronized Swimming (August 18 - 23)
Bianca and Sonja van der Velden


Table Tennis (August 13  -23)
Women:
Jiao Li
Jie Li
Elena Timina
(None of them were born here, btw...)


Taekwondo (August 20 - 23)
Men:
Dennis Bekkers


Tennis (August 10 - 17)
No Dutch contestants.


Triathlon (August 18 and 19)
Men:
Sander Berk

Women:
Lisa Mensink



Volleyball (August 9 - 24)
No Dutch teams qualified. Boy, how we have fallen...


Waterpolo (August 10 - 24)
Women's team, 13 players. I won't list their names here.


Weightlifting (August 9 - 19)
No Dutch contestants (surprise, surprise...)


Wrestling (Greco-Roman) (August 12 - 14)
No Dutch contestants.


Wrestling (freestyle) (August 16 - 21)
No Dutch contestants.

Worth noting about the baseball team is that this is Dutch pitcher Rob Cordemans' fourth Olympic competition. Sadly, Netherlands Antilles-born Jair Jurrjens, who could have represented the Dutch team, is not doing.

The Dutch Olympic soccer team is as follows:


Piet Velthuizen - Vitesse Arnhem
Kenneth Vermeer - Willem II
Kew Jaliens - AZ *
Calvin Jong-a-Pin - Heerenveen
Dirk Marcellis - PSV
Erik Pieters - PSV
Gianni Zuiverloon - West Bromwich Albion +
Urby Emanuelson - Ajax
Kees Luyckx - AZ
Otman Bakkal - PSV
Jonathan de Guzmán - Feijenoord
Hedwiges Maduro - Valencia +
Evander Sno - Celtic +
Roston Drenthe - Real Madrid +
Roy Beerens - Heerenveen
Ryan Babel - Liverpool +
Roy Makaay - Feijenoord *
Gerald Sibon - Heerenveen *

* Asterisked players are over the age of 25 (three in total)
+ Plussed players play outside the Netherlands (five in total)

Zuiverloon comes straight from WBA, who have been recently promoted into the Premier League, he is the only player to come close to not playing in the top division of his respective league in the Dutch team.

----

On a sidenote, the United States team contains eight players who ply their trade outside of the US, including Brazilian-born Benny Feilhaber, though one of their two goalkeepers, Chris Seitz, is uncapped at international level and has picked up just three club appearances for Real Salt Lake, playing secondary to Nick Rimando.

OK, here it is...an updated list of names (or teams) that will participate on behalf of The Netherlands in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. This list is pretty much final.


Athletics (August 15 - 24)
Men:
Caimin Douglas (4x100m relay)
Martin Heisen (4x100m relay)
Guus Hoogmoed (4x100m relay)
Patrick van Luijk (4x100m relay)
Kamiel Maase (marathon)
Eugène Martineau (decathlon)
Gregory Sedoc (110m hurdles, 4x100m relay)
Rutger Smith (shot put, discus)
Virgil Spier (4x100m relay)
Marcel van de Westen (110m hurdles)




A last minute addition to the team:

Robert Lathouwers (800m)


He needed to run a new personal best in order to qualify, and he did just that.

My prediction is that 12 athletes get busted for steroids/ilelgal substances.

No one predicted the feats of Michael Phelps

Nice to see them screw with the rules of baseball in order to speed up the game for the sake of the Olympics..

</sarcasm>

Phelps wins his seventh from seven, but finishes eighteen hundredths outside the world record.

Nice to see them screw with the rules of baseball in order to speed up the game for the sake of the Olympics..

</sarcasm>


Which rules have been changed?

See here. In extra innings, the team currently batting apparently get a free runner of their choice on first and second to start the inning.

I may be wrong though. I haven't seen any Olympic baseball this time around.

Oh I see...

http://xorsyst.com/news/japan-baseball-beijing-olympics/

This is kind of like in college football, where they take turns in OT trying to score from the 25 yard line.  The Olympics can use a wee bit of overtime anyway, generate some more ad revenue :P

No one predicted the feats of Michael Phelps

He's already won his 7th gold medal.

And on last check, I think the Chinese have the most gold medals, while the US has the most silvers and bronzes.

He's already won his 7th gold medal.

And on last check, I think the Chinese have the most gold medals, while the US has the most silvers and bronzes.
At the moment China with 27 Gold Medals

Nice to see them screw with the rules of baseball in order to speed up the game for the sake of the Olympics..

</sarcasm>


I thought you were referring to the USA v Netherlands game here.

We had 2 men on base (2nd and 3rd), one out, bottom ninth when the game got suspended again (due to the rain). For some obscure reason, the game wasn't to be finished... :-\\
OK, so we were trailing 7 to 0...so most likely we wouldn't have won the game anyway. But it would have been nice to at least have a chance to score some points (if only because those points might just prove to be decisive in the end).

So far, Canada has 1 of each medal.  We would have had 2 bronzes, but the shot-puter missed out on bronze by a centimetre.  1 CM.  Man, what a devastation :\'(

Nice to see them screw with the rules of baseball in order to speed up the game for the sake of the Olympics..

</sarcasm>
There is baseball in the Olympics?

So far, Canada has 1 of each medal.  We would have had 2 bronzes, but the shot-puter missed out on bronze by a centimetre.  1 CM.  Man, what a devastation :\'(


It's about time, I thought Canada would NEVER get a medal!  :o

It's about time, I thought Canada would NEVER get a medal!  :o


It was starting to look that way.  And sadly, I fear that's all Canada will get.  China and America are just unstoppable

There is baseball in the Olympics?


Yep yep, baseball has been played at the Olympics seven times as a demonstration sport, and five times for real - each Olympics since 1992. Sadly in 2012 there will be no baseball competition, despite London having some excellent facilities nowadays.

Yep yep, baseball has been played at the Olympics seven times as a demonstration sport, and five times for real - each Olympics since 1992. Sadly in 2012 there will be no baseball competition, despite London having some excellent facilities nowadays.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldOfSport/idINIndia-32519720080316Baseball still hopeful of spot at London 2012

I thought you were referring to the USA v Netherlands game here.

We had 2 men on base (2nd and 3rd), one out, bottom ninth when the game got suspended again (due to the rain). For some obscure reason, the game wasn't to be finished... :-\\
OK, so we were trailing 7 to 0...so most likely we wouldn't have won the game anyway. But it would have been nice to at least have a chance to score some points (if only because those points might just prove to be decisive in the end).


Actually, it was even better for us: we had three men on base and no one out.
The game was ended because additional regulations stated that, in case a match had to be suspended because of rain for 90 minutes or more, the game ended then and there. These regulations were only handed out during the second suspension, though. Nobody was aware of these regulations. Of course we filed a complaint, but to no avail. Apparently, you can only fight questionable decisions regarding the rules, not the additional regulations. Hmpf. >:(

Actually, it was even better for us: we had three men on base and no one out.
The game was ended because additional regulations stated that, in case a match had to be suspended because of rain for 90 minutes or more, the game ended then and there. These regulations were only handed out during the second suspension, though. Nobody was aware of these regulations. Of course we filed a complaint, but to no avail. Apparently, you can only fight questionable decisions regarding the rules, not the additional regulations. Hmpf. >:(


That is pretty ridiculous.  In the MLB, rain delays will result in a "no-game" only if five full innings haven't been played yet; regardless of how long the rain delay is, if you get past the fifth inning and the game is still tied, the game will be resumed at a later date.  Olympics have some silly quirks.

I'm not so sure I like that man-on-base extra innings rule either, but whatever floats their boat.

And BTW... I'm trying to catch up with the results of the Dutch squad in China, but it's bloody impossible. Most of our athletes are doing rather poorly, and that's why I'm having a hard time finding their classifications/results (even on the Dutch sites!).

Some of the more appealing results so far:

Canoe/Kayak
Ariane Herde: 6th place (slalom)

Cycling (Road)
Stef Clement: 9th place (ind. time trial)
Robert Gesink: 10th place (ind. time trial)
Marianne Vos: 6th place (road race)

Equestrian (Dressage)
Team (Van Grunsven / Minderhoud / Schellekens-Bartels): SILVER MEDAL

Football
Men's team was knocked out by Argentina in Quarter Final (after extra time).

Judo
Henk Grol (-100 kg): BRONZE MEDAL
Ruben Houkes (-60 kg): BRONZE MEDAL
Edith Bosch (-70 kg): BRONZE MEDAL
Deborah Gravenstijn (-57 kg): SILVER MEDAL
Elisabeth Willeboordse (-63 kg): BRONZE MEDAL

Rowing
Women's Double Two (Van Eupen / Van der Kolk): GOLD MEDAL
Women's Eight: SILVER MEDAL

Sailing
Women's Yngling: SILVER MEDAL

Swimming
Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay (Dekker / Kromowidjojo / Heemskerk / Veldhuis): GOLD MEDAL
(Rather disappointingly, only the one medal)


Several teams / athletes are currently still in competition for medals (like Nummerdor/Schuil in Beach Volleyball, Epke Zonderland on Horizontal Bar (Gymnastics), both the men's and women's hockey team, both the men's and women's 470 (Sailing), and the women's Waterpolo Team).

That is pretty ridiculous.  In the MLB, rain delays will result in a "no-game" only if five full innings haven't been played yet; regardless of how long the rain delay is, if you get past the fifth inning and the game is still tied, the game will be resumed at a later date.  Olympics have some silly quirks.



Well, the game wasn't exactly tied... We were trailing by 7 to nothing. But that's beside the point: in a competition where any point can make a difference, it's unfair to deprive any team of the chance to score points.
Mind you, I don't think it would've helped us much. We're doing rather poorly. I think we've only beaten China thus far, so not much chance of a medal for us. :(

Last night I was watching the men's swimming, and I saw that the U.S. team (with Michael Phelps) won the gold; this would be the 8th for Phelps himself, although he shares it with three other guys.

Canada's in 17th place now with 2 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze

Local Olympian wins:
Brian Price - Gold Medal as part of Men's 8s for Rowing
Ian Millar - Silver Medal for Team Jumping (Equestrian)


In his place of residence in Perth, Ontario stands a statue of Ian Millar and his late show jumping horse Big Ben.  Perth is about an hour drive from where I live and I can't say as I've ever been there.  I should take a drive out one day to see his statue
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3166/2364730835_1813e30078.jpg?v=0

Canada's in 17th place now with 2 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze



Still "only" the two gold medals, but you've improved on the silver (now 6) and bronze (now 5) - which give you a total of 13, just as many as we have. (But we've already got 4 gold  :P).

Today saw a surprise bronze medal for Priscilla Lopes on the womens 100m hurdles for your country. I think she was already happy just making the final, and then to see the #1 favorite stumble on the penultimate hurdle... man, what a race!



As for my little country:
There were GOLD MEDALS for Marianne Vos in the points race for women (finally! Things didn't work out for her in the time trial and road race) and Anky van Grunsven with Salinero in the Dressage (individual). For Anky van Grunsven, it was her third Olympic title in a row (after winning in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004).
And there was a SILVER MEDAL for the women's 470 (Sailing).

- Sadly, Epke Zonderland fell from the Horizontal Bar (Gymnastics, men) and he ended 7th in the final.

- Schuil/Nummerdor (Beach Volleyball, men) were eliminated in the quarter finals.

- Hockey: Both the mens' and womens' teams have reached semi finals. Still everything to play for...

- Waterpolo: The womens' team have made it to the final (after beating Hungary in the semi final), so for the first time in history there's gonna be a medal for us in this event.

This Olympics saw the first ever medals for Bahrain (Athletics: 1500m men - GOLD), Panama (Athletics: Long Jump men - GOLD) and Togo (Kayak: Slalom men - BRONZE). Those athletes will receive a hero's welcome in their respective countries.

On the other side of the medal: Greece (host of the 2004 Olympics) has only got 3 medals so far (1 silver, 2 bronze). What a difference compared to 4 years ago, when they scored 16 medals in total.

Usain Bolt has now set a brand new world record in the 200 metres — taking two hundredths off the previous time of 19.32.

These games are being very disappointing for us :\'(

We have only 6 medals so far, 1 gold and 5 bronze.

If Michael Phelps was a country, he would be ninth in the medals table.

Another shocker. There is stunned silence at the Bird's Nest. Defending champ Jeremy Wariner is in control after 300m but he ties up badly in the home straight - like Sonya Richards in the women's. LaShawn Merrit takes gold, ahead of Wariner and a desperate - and comedy - dive on the line wins David Neville bronze for an American 1-2-3. Martyn Rooney fifth.

Usain Bolt has now set a brand new world record in the 200 metres — taking two hundredths off the previous time of 19.32.


He could have had a faster time had he not took it slow just before the finish line

These games are being very disappointing for us :\'(

We have only 6 medals so far, 1 gold and 5 bronze.


At least you got medals. There's plenty of countries with nothing (like that little country to the south of us: Belgium).


Still "only" the two gold medals, but you've improved on the silver (now 6) and bronze (now 5) - which give you a total of 13, just as many as we have. (But we've already got 4 gold  :P).




Surprisingly, Canada and the Netherlands are still tied when it comes to the total number of medals won. Both countries have 15 in total, but since we have more gold medals we're ranked higher (currently 10th place in overall standings - Wow! :o).

What a great day this was...suprises, celebrations, exaltation...and some disappointment too.

To start with the latter: the men's team didn't make it to the hockey final. Germany beat us after penalty strokes. Taeke Taekema (of all people..) missed the decider. :\'(

Suprisingly, our men's 4x100m relay team (athletics) did make it to the final, where USA and Great Britain (among others) failed. Now anything is possible... ::)

Celebrations for Maarten van der Weijden (who won a GOLD MEDAL in the 10,000m open water (swimming)) and the women's waterpolo team  who beat USA in the final, thus winning the first ever GOLD MEDAL for us in this particular event. :) 8)

And exaltation for Pieter van den Hoogenband (former Olympic champion in swimming), who witnessed Maarten van der Weijden taking the gold medal. :D

These games are being very disappointing for us :\'(

We have only 6 medals so far, 1 gold and 5 bronze.
What country are yoiu from?

Upsets?Well,Torri Edwards was pretty upset!

What country are yoiu from?


She's Brazilian, Marian, and she's probably been celebrating the GOLD MEDAL for Maurren Maggi (long jump, women) like crazy. ;)

At least you got medals. There's plenty of countries with nothing (like that little country to the south of us: Belgium).


Belgium finally got their medal... a surprise SILVER  one, with that, for the 4x100m relay (athletics, women).


We got out seventh GOLD MEDAL yesterday in the women's hockey tournament. :)

I thought I was watching a travesty in the making. The South Korean/Cuba baseball game ended with quite
a controversy. In the bottom of the 9th the Umpire seemed to have lost his eye for the strike zone. The
Korean catcher, rather upset at the noncalls, had a few words for the umpire and was ejected from the game.
Korea changed pitchers as well and the reliever was able to get the Cuban batter to ground into a game ending
double play.


My only question is, What the game was that umpire watching? The pitcher couldn't have placed the ball any better
if he walked up and placed the ball in the catcher's mitt. That Umpire owes the world an apology for the the way he
called the bottom half of the 9th.What a dope.

I see the U.S. Women's Basketball Team shows as much class and sportsmenship as their male counterparts.  :P

In the Men's game against China the U.S. had a commanding lead with under a minute to play yet they still felt
it necessary to shoot from 3 point range. In todays game against Australia, the women had a 27 point lead and
with 5 seconds to go in the game they still past the ball and worked a shot. Why? Australia was showing a little
class doing nothing to stop the clock to prolong the game so why not give a little respect in return and just let
the clock run out?

How about that Swedish wrestler who called the judges corrupt, rejected his bronze medal, and was kicked out of the Olympics for disrupting the ceremony

Anyone see Angel Valodia Matos, the Cuban in the Taekwondo Bronze finals?  He lost due to a technicality, so he kicked the referee in the face, shoved a judge and spat on the floor.  He and his coach are now banned for life from future WTF competitions, and he was disqualified from the Olympics

The rationale for Team USA (men's, at least) is that they have to play hard for 40 minutes.  You saw what happened when they relaxed against Argentina and only led by 9 at the half.  Tonight both Spain and the USA are playing hard, both are shooting 60%+ and the US is leading by 8 at the half, but they definitely could be playing better.  Maybe next Olympics we'll actually get a REAL center to join the squad besides Dwight Howard :D :D

Gawd I'm tired.  Stupid Beijing time.

High-scoring but sloppy gold medal game...go USA!

Going to bed now :P

I think I might watch the closing ceremonies later on tonight.

I think I might watch the closing ceremonies later on tonight.


Tonight...? ??? The Games ended yesterday.

Tonight...? ??? The Games ended yesterday.


Major tape delay :D  Plus he posted yesterday.

Major tape delay :D  Plus he posted yesterday.


Not in my time zone he didn't. :P

Not in my time zone he didn't. :P


It's still August 24 where you are?!  :o  Holy Time Warp!

It's still August 24 where you are?!  :o  Holy Time Warp!


No, not anymore - but it was at the time of my initial posting.