Rick van der Ven
Dutch archer, European champion, Olympic fourth-place finisher.
Last updated
Rick van der Ven is a Dutch Olympic archer who began practicing archery at age 8. He has won multiple European championships and competed in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, notably defeating top-seeded Im Dong-hyun in London 2012.
Lore & Background
Rick van der Ven was born on 14 April 1991 in Oss, Netherlands, and started archery at age 8. He trains at the Olympic Sportcentre in Papendal and studies Engineering Mechanics in Arnhem. His coach for the 2012 Olympics was Wietse van Alten, a bronze medalist from Sydney 2000.
At the 2012 London Olympics, van der Ven caused an upset by defeating top-seeded world-record holder Im Dong-hyun 7–1 in the round of 16. He then beat Kuo Cheng-Wei 6–0 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals against Takaharu Furukawa, the match ended 5–5; van der Ven scored 141 to Furukawa's 140 but lost the shoot-off 9–10. In the bronze medal match against Dai Xiaoxiang, he again drew 5–5 and scored two points more than his opponent, but lost the first shoot-off, finishing fourth.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, van der Ven competed in both individual and team events. He ranked 27th in the individual ranking round and lost 4–6 to Patrick Huston in the first knockout round. In the men's team event, the Netherlands ranked 9th, defeated Spain 5–1, then lost 0–6 to South Korea.
Reader's Guide
Rick van der Ven's significance lies in his consistent performance at the highest levels of European and world archery. He became European Champion in outdoor archery in May 2012, winning both individual and team gold, and repeated that double in indoor archery in February 2013. His Olympic debut in 2012 was marked by a stunning victory over the world-record holder Im Dong-hyun, demonstrating his ability to compete against the best. Although he narrowly missed medals in both the semifinal and bronze match, finishing fourth, his performance established him as a top contender.
At the 2016 Olympics, he contributed to the Dutch team's advancement past Spain before falling to the dominant South Korean team. His legacy includes a gold medal in the mixed team recurve event at the 2022 European Archery Championships alongside Gabriela Schloesser. Van der Ven's career reflects a steady presence in international archery, with European titles and Olympic appearances underscoring his role in Dutch archery.
Career statistics and honours
Medals
- Silver World Championships — 2013 Belek Team
- Silver World Championships — 2015 Copenhagen Individual
- Gold World Championships — 2014 Wrocław Individual
- Bronze World Championships — 2014 Lausanne Final Individual
- Bronze World Championships — 2015 Medellín Individual
- Silver World Championships — 2016 Shanghai Team
- Gold European Championships — 2012 Amsterdam Individual
- Gold European Championships — 2022 Munich Mixed team
- Bronze World Indoor Championships — 2014 Nîmes Team
- Gold World Indoor Championships — 2014 Nîmes Individual
- Bronze World Indoor Championships — 2025 Luxembourg Individual
- Gold European Indoor Championships — 2013 Rzeszów Individual
- Gold European Indoor Championships — 2015 Koper Team
- Bronze European Games — 2015 Baku Team
Tables copied from the source article, totals included as the source gives them: Wikipedia: Rick van der Ven (CC BY-SA 4.0). Wide tables scroll sideways.
More in World Archery Championships Medalists
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Rick van der Ven (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Statistics, medals and awards: the tables of the source article.
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