Dutch King and Queen congratulate Olympic athletes on "fantastic performances"
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima released a statement on Tuesday congratulating the Dutch Olympic athletes on their “fantastic performances.” As of 13:00 p.m. on Tuesday, TeamNL had won 18 medals at the Summer Games in Paris—seven gold, five silver, and six bronze.
“The Netherlands wins one historic medal after another in Paris,” the Royals wrote in a statement released by the government information service RVD. “After a thrilling final, the Dutch 3x3 basketball players won gold. And on Saturday, Karolien Florijn became the first Dutch woman to win Olympic gold in the skiff. Followed by gold for the 4x400 meter mixed relay team after an exciting race in Stade de France. Congratulations on these fantastic performances!”
This year, the Dutch rowing team really shone in the Olympics, winning four gold, three silver, and one bronze medals. Team NL also won gold in athletics, sailing, and basketball, silver in BMX racing and cycling, and bronze in athletics, sailing, swimming (2), and show jumping.
Show jumper Maikel van der Vleuten won bronze in the individual tournament on Tuesday. This is his second bronze medal, having also come in third with his gelding Beauville Z in Tokyo three years ago.
Van der Vleuten was one of three riders in the gardens of Versailles who reached the jump-off after a faultless first round, NOS reports. He was, therefore, already certain of another medal before the decisive round. He made one jumping mistake in the eight jumps with Beuville Z.
Christian Kukuk won gold with two flawless rounds. Steve Geurdat also made one mistake but proved faster than Van Vleuten and took silver.