Sports in the Netherlands

Royal Netherlands Football Union is the largest sports federation in the country, it includes more than a million players ^[1] . The Union was created on December 8, 1899 and its members participated in the organization of the FIFA International Football Association in 1904.

In 1974, 1978 and 2010, the Netherlands national team played in the finals of the World Cup , but was defeated all three times.

In 1988, having won the final against the USSR national team, the Netherlands national football team became the European champion for the only time in its history. Footballers of the Netherlands won three bronze medals at the Olympic Games in 1908, 1912 and 1920.

Many Dutch footballers and coaches have gained international recognition: Johan Cruyff , Johan Neskens , Rob Rensenbrink , Marco van Basten , Ruud Gullit , Dennis Bergkamp , Rude van Nistelrooy , Patrick Kluivert , Frank de Boer , Clarence Seedorf , Edwin van der Sar , Robin van Persie , Arjen Robben , Wesley Sneijder , Rinus Michels , Louis van Gal , Guus Hiddink , Frank Rikard .

Club football in the Netherlands is also at a high level. The famous “troika” of Dutch football - Ajax , PSV and Feyenoord - are the repeated winners of major European club tournaments.

The football stadiums of Amsterdam “ Johan Cruyff Arena ” and “Feyenoord” have the highest UEFA rating , therefore, the finals of the European Championships , the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League are held there .

Cycling is one of the most developed sports in the Netherlands. Six world championships were held here on road cycling , the Dutch became champions 7 times (in men's and women's standings). Dutch cyclists twice won the yellow jersey at the most prestigious race: Tour de France : Jan Janssen defeated in 1968, Jop Zutemelk in 1980 ^[2] . In the Netherlands, on the second Saturday of May, family cycling celebrates "Cyclist's Day." ^[3] .

The National Federation of Water Sports was founded on August 14, 1888, and now it is one of the ten largest sports federations of the country ^[1] . In this sport, the Dutch won a total of 53 medals at the Olympics. The most famous athletes include Ri Mastenbrook , Inge de Bruin , Peter van den Hoogenband , Ranomi Cromovidio .

Speed ​​Skating

The Netherlands is traditionally strong in speed skating. Of all the countries of Europe, this sport was most developed precisely in the Netherlands and in the Scandinavian countries ^[4] . Iron skating competitions have been held here since the middle of the 13th century ^[5] . Outstanding successes at international competitions were achieved by Ard Schenck , Kes Ferkerk , Rintier Ritsma , Irene Wust , Marianne Timmer , Bob de Jong , Sven Kramer and many others. The Dutch were the first to build artificial speed skating tracks. The Elfstedentocht speed skating ultramarathon, held in Friesland , with a distance of about 200 kilometers, is the longest in the world ^[6] .

Figure Skating

Despite the achievements of the Dutch athletes in speed skating, this country achieved great success in figure skating only in the 1960-1970s, when the Netherlands became famous for its athletes in women's single figure skating . Figure skater Shaukye Dijkstra , daughter of skater Lau Dijkstra , became the world champion three times, five times the European champion , won the silver medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics, and won the gold in 1964 . ^[7] Her medal was the first “gold” won by Dutch athletes at the Winter Olympics. Great success was also achieved by European and world champion Diana de Leu , who became the second at the Olympic Games in Innsbruck . At present, singles from the Netherlands are not so strong and either do not qualify for major international competitions or occupy low 20th places there.

• Netherlands at the Olympics
• Olympic Committee of the Netherlands