Royal couple congratulates Dutch Paralympic winners, four gold medals for TeamNL

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima have congratulated the first Dutch gold medal winners at the Paralympic Games in Paris. The royal couple shared a congratulatory message on social media.

“The first gold medals at the Paralympic Games in Paris are here!” wrote the royal couple. ”We congratulate Caroline Groot on her incredible performance and her world record in the 500-meter time trial in the C5 class in Paraban cycling. Congratulations also to Tristan Bangma and his pilot, Patrick Bos, for gold in pursuit B in Paraban cycling."

Willem-Alexander and Máxima also look back on the brilliant swimming final. "What a fantastic race Liesette Bruinsma swam in the 400-meter freestyle S11. Chantalle Zijderveld extended her title in the 100-meter breaststroke SB9. A remarkable performance!”

Para swimmer Liesette Bruinsma won gold in the 400-meter freestyle at the Paralympic Games in Paris on Friday. The 23-year-old blind swimmer stayed ahead of Zhang Xiaotong from China and Daria Paloekianenko from Russia in the S11 class.

It is the third Olympic title for Bruinsma, who won gold in the same event and the 200-meter medley at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. At the 2021 Tokyo Games, Bruinsma won silver in the 400-meter freestyle.

The Netherlands now has four gold medals, one silver, and one bronze, putting it in fourth place in the medal table of the Paralympic Games. Three years ago, the Dutch team won 59 medals at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, putting TeamNL in fifth place. The Netherlands won 25 gold, 17 silver, and 17 bronze medals in Tokyo.

The Paralympic Games in Paris started last Wednesday. Over 4,400 athletes from 184 countries will compete for medals in 22 different sports until Sunday, September 8.