Matthijs Vellenga (born 29 October 1977 in Grijpskerk) is a

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

from 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 ...

.Athlete biography: Matthijs Vellenga
beijing2008.cn, ret: 6 August 2008 His career highlight so far was in

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 ...

at the 2004 Summer Olympics where he won the silver medal in the eights together with

Michiel Bartman Michiel Bernhard Emiel Marie Bartman (born 19 May 1967 in Badhoevedorp, North Holland) is a former rower from the Netherlands, who won a total of three Olympic medals during his career. A member of the Nereus Rowing Club from Amsterdam, ...

, Geert-Jan Derksen, Gerritjan Eggenkamp, Daniël Mensch,

Diederik Simon Diederik Rudolf Simon (born 10 April 1970 in Bloemendaal, North Holland) is a rower from the Netherlands, who competed for his native country in five consecutive Summer Olympics. He won the gold medal with the ''Holland Acht'' (Holland Eight) ...

, Jan-Willem Gabriëls, Gijs Vermeulen and Chun Wei Cheung. After the Olympics Vellenga, Gabriëls, Vermeulen and Geert Cirkel started a new mission on the road to the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

with the fours. Their formation was successful straight away with a second place in the 2005 Luzern World Cup as well as the World Championships in Gifu that year. In 2006 they got another second place in Luzern and a third in

Munich 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 ...

. In Eton where the World Championships were held they won another bronze medal. They were the team to beat in 2007 after winning the World Cup in Luzern and becoming second in both

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

. However at the 2007 World Championships in Munich they had to be satisfied with another bronze medal. With a World Cup win in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

and a second place in Luzern in 2008, they qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics. At the 2008 Olympics, the Dutch coxless four finished eighth. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Vellenga again took part in the men's eights, finishing in 5th place.

References

1977 births Living people Dutch male rowers Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers of the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics People from Zuidhorn Olympic medalists in rowing Sportspeople from Groningen (province) 20th-century Dutch people 21st-century Dutch people {{Netherlands-rowing-bio-stub