In more than four weeks, figure skater Lindsay van Zundert (16) and speed skater Kjeld Nuis (32) will be the flag bearer of the Dutch team at the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games in Beijing. Chef de mission Carl Verheijen announced this today during the team transfer.
Van Zundert is the first figure skater to compete for the Netherlands at the Games since 1976. Nuis (32) is a two-time Olympic champion of the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang. For the Summer Games in Tokyo, NOC*NSF, together with skateboarder Keet Oldenbeuving and athlete Churandy Martina, opted for the youngest and oldest athlete as flag bearers.
Van Zundert, who turns seventeen on February 1, reacted enthusiastically. This is truly the best birthday present ever! I’m so happy to be able to go to the Games, and I’ve fished there every now and then in the past few weeks to be able to carry the Dutch flag too, to be honest. This is really a great honor, and a nice gesture to the figure skating sport in our country.”
Verheijen thought it was a wonderful duo as a calling card for TeamNL. ,,Kjeld needs hardly any introduction. In 2018 he emerged as the absolute king of the Games with gold in both the 1,000 and 1,500 meters. Lindsay turns seventeen on February 1 and is the youngest in our team. She has shown that she has a unique talent. For the first time in 46 years, a Dutch figure skater is allowed to go to the Games. Her achievement is already historic.”
35 athletes to Beijing
TeamNL is going to the Olympic Games in Beijing with at least 35 athletes. Chef de mission Carl Verheijen told this during a broadcast about the team transfer of sports umbrella organization NOC*NSF in Amsterdam.
The Olympic team currently consists of 19 women and 16 men from three different sports associations, the KNSB skating association, the Dutch Ski Association and the Bob and Slee Association Netherlands (BSBN). Another team around bobsleigher Ivo de Bruin could be added.
NOC*NSF chairman Anneke van Zanen-Nieberg handed over TeamNL to the chef de mission Carl Verheijen for the Olympic Games and Esther Vergeer for the Paralympic Games. The chairman handed them both a large envelope containing the Dutch flag.
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