Netherlands at The 2008 Summer Olympics - Ambassadors

Ambassadors

The NOC*NSF announced a total of eleven athletes as their official ambassadors in the period before, during and after the Olympics in 2008 until the end of that year. The ambassadors that were chosen were all athletes who had a good chance of qualifying for the Olympics or who had already achieved qualification individually or with their team. They were a mixture of men, women, individual athletes, team athletes, Olympians and Paralympians. Chefs de Mission were Charles van Commenée (Olympics) and Thea Limbach (Paralympics).

The eleven ambassadors were:

• Anky van Grunsven, Equestrian, 2 times gold and 4 times silver at previous Olympics, 2 times World and 4 times European champion.
• Edith Bosch, Judoka, 2004 Summer Olympics silver medallist, World champion and double European champion.
• Kees Luyckx, Footballer.
• Kenny van Weeghel, Wheeler, 2004 Summer Paralympics gold, silver and bronze medallist, 4 times World and 3 times European champion.
• Lobke Berkhout, Sailor, triple 470-class World champion together with De Koning.
• Marcelien de Koning, Sailor, triple 470-class World champion together with Berkhout.
• Marije Smits, Paralympic runner and long jumper, 2002 World champion in long jumping.
• Marleen Veldhuis, Swimmer, 2004 Summer Olympics bronze medallist, 2 times World and 11 times European champion.
• Minke Booij, Field hockey player, silver and bronze at previous Olympics, World champion and triple European champion.
• Rutger Smith, Discus thrower and shot putter, silver (shot put) and bronze (discus) medallist at World championships.
• Theo Bos, Track cyclist, 2004 Summer Olympics silver medallist, 5 times World and 3 times European champion.