Hendrikus "Hennie" Dompeling (born 9 April 1966 in

Haarlemmermeer Haarlemmermeer () is a municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The name Haarlemmermeer means ' Haarlem's lake', referring to the body of w ...

) is a Dutch sport shooter. He has competed for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in skeet shooting at five Olympics (1988 to 2004), and has been close to an Olympic medal in 2000 (finishing in fourth place). Outside the Olympic career, Dompeling has produced a phenomenal record of twenty-one medals in a major international competition: two bronze at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, a total of four (two golds and two silver) at the

ISSF World Cup The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions. It still is carried out in the Olympic shooting events, with four comp ...

final, a total of nine (five golds, three silver, one bronze) at numerous ISSF World Cup meets, and a total of six (two golds, one silver, and three bronze) under both junior and senior category at the European Championships.

Career

Having started the sport since the age of fourteen, Dompeling has been a member of Claybusters Skeet Shooting Association ( nl, Kleiduiven Schiet Vereniging Clay Busters, KSV Claybusters), and a resident athlete of the Royal Netherlands Shooting Federation ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Schietsport Associatie, KNSA), where he trained throughout his career under head coach Nelia Heemskerk. Dompeling competed internationally for the

at the age of eighteen, and then became a junior European champion in skeet shooting at Montecatini,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

when he was twenty. Two years later, Dompeling made his first Dutch team at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, finishing thirteenth in the mixed skeet with 195 points. In 1991, Dompeling set a new final world record of 225 clay pigeons to take the silver medal at the

final in

Munich, Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. Dompeling's magnificent world-record feat culminated in a selection of being one of clear favorites for an Olympic medal at his succeeding Games in

Barcelona 1992 The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, but slipped out of his contention desperately to forty-second place in the final debut of the mixed skeet, posting a dismal score of 143. Dompeling reached the peak of his shooting career in the 1995 season by winning a gold medal each at the World Cup and European Championships, and a bronze at the Worlds. On his third Olympic appearance at

Atlanta 1996 The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, Dompeling held off a charge from his ill-fated Olympic feat in Barcelona to score 120 targets out of a possible 125 in the qualifying round of the inaugural men's skeet, but his results were not enough to put him through to the final, forcing a tie with four other shooters for fifteenth place. Dompeling's significant highlight of his Olympic career came in

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, when he reached the final for the first time in the men's skeet on his fourth Games. He prevailed in a grueling shoot-off against Italy's

Andrea Benelli Andrea Benelli (born 28 June 1960) is a retired Italian skeet shooter. He competed at the 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, and won a gold medal in 2004 and a bronze in 1996. In 2004, he and Marko Kemppainen Marko Kemppainen (b ...

4 to 3 for fourth place with a matching score of 146, but fell short of his first ever Olympic medal by just a single target behind the U.S. shooter James Graves. Two years later, Dompeling emerged victorious from his Olympic medal failure to shoot a single-target lead over U.S. shooter Shawn Dulohery 23 to 22 for the gold at the second meet of the 2002 ISSF World Cup series in

Shanghai, China Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

. Coming on top of the World Cup podium for the fifth time in his career (the first being done in 1990), Dompeling also secured an Olympic quota place, and was eventually selected to compete for the

in his fifth Games. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Dompeling qualified for his fifth Dutch team, as a 38-year-old veteran, in the men's skeet, by having registered a minimum qualifying score of 123 from his fantastic top finish at the World Cup two years earlier. Dompeling could not produce a much electrifying effort from Sydney 2000, as he finished in an unprecedented eight-way tie for twenty-first place with a matching score of 119.

Olympic results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dompeling, Hennie 1966 births Living people Dutch male sport shooters Olympic shooters of the Netherlands Shooters at the 1988 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1992 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics People from Haarlemmermeer Sportspeople from North Holland