Olympic Heroes

In the history of the Netherlands Antilles participating at the Olympic Games, we have known one Olympic hero who is very special to our community. He has showed the world that the Netherlands Antilles are able to compete with the biggest countries in the world. The performance of this athlete have been above all expectations, and the community of the Netherlands Antilles has a lot of respect for him

J. Boersma
Mr. Jan Boersma was the first ever representative of the Netherlands Antilles, to win a silver medal at the Olympics Games of 1988, held in Seoul, Korea. He competed in the discipline windsurfing. Jan is one of many that showed nothing is impossible, and if you put your mind to it, anything is possible.

NAOC and its partners are investing in our potential athletes, in order to have more Olympic heroes in the future.

Churandy Martina

Churandy Martina is one of Antilles best known sportsman. As an athlete he managed to get his country on the world map by proving that he is among the fastest sprinters in the world, when he won the gold medal in the 100 m during the Pan American Games (Rio de Janeiro 2007) He also ranked 5th in the 100 m and 200m world championships (Osaka 2007, Japan).

Churandy was born the July 3, 1984 on the island of Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. He won his first medal running when he was only 6 years old while participating in a youth run. He came in 3rd. Churandy always enjoyed sports. He played volleyball for several years until he broke his arm. He participated in athletics for his school and managed to do very well. It was Churandy’s dream to reach the top. He always admired athletes like Michael Johnson.

OANA
On the 18th of October 2004, in cooperation with NAOC, the Olympians Association Netherlands Antilles (OANA) has been founded. The members of OANA are athletes who have represented the Netherlands Antilles at the Olympic Games.

The Executive Committee consists out of:
Mr. Jan Boutmy has been elected as president. He has represented the Netherlands Antilles as fencer during the Olympic Games in Tokyo ’64 and Mexico ’68.

Mrs.Enith Brigitha as secretary. She was no doubt the best swimmer of the 70’s. She was the first Black female Olympic swimmer, and also the first to win two Olympic medals (in 1976), both bronze, one for the 100m and one for the 200m freestyle. She always lost against the Germans, who now are disqualified due to use of performance enhancing. So Enith Brigitha deserves the golden medal.

Mr. Cor van Aanholt as treasurer. Van Aanholt is a former world champion in Sunfish. He represented the Netherlands Antilles in the Olympic Games of 2000 as an athlete.

You can also download the list of all the Olympians that participated at the Olympic Games of the Netherlands Antilles and those who participated on behalf of the Netherlands Antilles.