Athlete of the Week: Rick VAN DER VEN (NED)

 Rick VAN DER VEN achieved impressive results over the last year, establishing himself as Europe’s leading recurve archer. The athlete from Oss, who was already a Junior World Championships runner-up in 2009, won his first major medals at the senior level at the 2012 European Championships in Amsterdam.   Competing in front of their home crowd, VAN DER VEN led his teammates Sjef VAN DEN BERG and Rick VAN DEN OEVER to the gold medal in the men’s team competition. Seeded No. 2, the Dutch archers defeated Ukraine in semifinals, 219-214, and Italy in the final, 215-212. Individually, VAN DER VEN, who had ranked 4th after qualifications, had easy victories in the elimination rounds. He defeated Markiyan IVASHKO (UKR) 7-1 in the semifinal and Slovenia’s Klemen STRAJHAR in the final in straight sets, 6-0, for a well-deserved second gold medal.   Rick VAN DER VEN’s European success earned the Netherlands’s only individual Olympic place for London 2012, actually won by his teammate Rick VAN DEN OEVER. At Lord’s Cricket Ground, VAN DER VEN did not disappoint. Looking to replicate his coach Wietse VAN ALTEN, who won bronze at Sydney 2000, VAN DER VEN produced a major upset to take out IM Dong-Hyun (KOR) in the last 16. The Dutch athlete then beat KUP Cheng-Wei (TPE) 6-0 in the quarterfinal with a performance which included seven successive 10s. The Dutch man then lost a shoot-off to Takaharu FURUKAWA (JPN) in the semifinal. After leading in the bronze medal match, VAN DER VEN was finally edged off the Olympic podium when DAI Xiaoxiang (CHN) shot a dead-centre 10 in another one-arrow shoot-off. These breath-taking matches attracted the sports fans on the Dutch public television with an audience of more than 1.3 million and an incredible market share of 51.8%.  The year 2013 started well for Rick VAN DER VEN. At the European Indoor Tournament in Nimes, he reached the gold medal match – but lost the title 2-6 to the former indoor world champion Sebastian ROHRBERG (GER). VAN DER VEN qualified for the Indoor World Cup Final in Las Vegas, where he lost the semifinal to the world No. 1 Brady ELLISON (USA). However he won the bronze medal match 6-2 over the Olympic team champion Michele FRANGILLI (ITA).   The 21-year-old went on to compete at the European Indoor Championships in Rzeszow. He made his way to the individual gold medal final, and defeated Jean-Charles VALLADONT (FRA), leader from qualifications and winner of the Singapore Indoor World Cup, in a close match (6-4). Rick VAN DER VEN then led the Netherlands to the team gold medal, ahead of Russia (234-231) and Italy.          “The last couple of years I seem to be better year after year. In 2012, I had a lot of podiums and I hope that 2013 will be even better!” said Rick VAN DER VEN, who currently holds all four European titles – outdoor and indoor individual and team champion!   Biography Extract     Rick VAN DER VEN (NED) – Born on 14 April 1991  1st Team European Indoor Championships – Rzeszow 2013 1st Individual European Indoor Championships – Rzeszow 2013 3rd Individual Indoor World Cup Final – Las Vegas 2013 2nd Individual European Indoor Tournament – Nimes 2013 4th Individual Olympic Games – London 2012 1st Team European Championships – Amsterdam 2012 1st Individual European Championships – Amsterdam 2012 5th Individual Indoor World Championships – Las Vegas 2012 3rd  Team Junior World Championships – Legnica 2011 2nd Mixed Team Junior World Championships – Legnica 2011 4th Individual Junior World Championships – Legnica 2011 9th Team European Championships – Rovereto 2010 9th Individual European Championships – Rovereto 2010 2nd Individual Junior World Championships – Ogden 2009   Find more information on Rick VAN DER VEN (and all other archers) at the World Archery website.   World Archery Communication