Marrit Leenstra (born 18 October 1973) is a Dutch professional beach volleyball and indoor

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

player born in Emmen, Drenthe. Leenstra started her career in 1983 playing indoor volleyball for OSV Pegasus Ter Apel. She also played for Etiflex Ommen, Martinus Amstelveen, Vini Monteschiavo Jesi, Granzotto San Dona, Fiqurella Firenze and Mirabi Iandia Teodora Ravenna. From 1988 to 1992 she was part of Dutch youth teams. In 1992 she joined the Dutch senior volleyball team and was selected for the

1992 Summer Olympics 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 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, finishing sixth. Four years later, during the

1996 Summer Olympics 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, ...

she and her team finished fifth. Leenstra remained in the Dutch team until 1998. After finishing her indoor contract in

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 ...

, she started her international beach volleyball career. She teamed up with Dutch star Rebekka Kadijk, whose sister

Debora Debora Racing cars is a small French car builder, popular with private racing teams, based in Besançon, France. Teams generally use their chassis to take part in Le Mans style endurance racing such as Magny Cours, Jarama and le Mans. Drivers al ...

decided to quit beach volleyball after the

2000 Summer Olympics 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 ...

. In 2001, 2002 and 2004, Kadijk and Leenstra won three Dutch national titles. In

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

2002 they reached the final of the European Championships. They lost this final, but still won a silver medal. Their main achievement was made in 2003 when they won the World Cup meeting in

Lianyungang Lianyungang () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north. Its name derives f ...

( China). They qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics. After the Olympics they decided to part ways. Leenstra's next partner was

Sanne Keizer Sanne Keizer (born 6 February 1985) is a Dutch beach volleyball player who plays as a right-side defender with her partner Madelein Meppelink. Her career highlights include two gold, two silver and four bronze medals on the FIVB World Tour. ...

with whom she did not reach any notable results, except a fourth place at a tournament in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

References

External links

Official site
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leenstra, Marrit 1973 births Living people Beach volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Dutch women's beach volleyball players Dutch women's volleyball players Olympic beach volleyball players for the Netherlands Olympic volleyball players for the Netherlands Sportspeople from Emmen, Netherlands Volleyball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics