Olga Alida Divera Commandeur (born 30 October 1958) is a Dutch

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete. She competed in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

, but failed to reach the final. She won five national titles in this event in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983 and 1984. She also won gold medals in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

at the

1975 European Athletics Junior Championships The 1975 European Athletics Junior Championships was the third edition of the biennial athletics competition for European athletes aged under twenty. It was held in Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai ( ...

and 1977 national championships.

Biography

Commandeur started competing in athletics in 1973 and soon became a leading junior Dutch runner and

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

er. Next year she won national youth titles in the 800 m (indoor) and 300 m. In 1975 she finished second in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

senior Dutch championships. She later won the 800 m at the

in a time of 2:05.8. She shaved 4.2 s from it two weeks later in Aalst, setting a Dutch seniors record and a world youth record. Commandeur missed the 1976 Olympics due to injuries that kept returning in 1977–1978. In early 1979 she focused on

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

(and later

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

) aiming for the 1980 Olympics. Next year she finished second in the national championships and did not qualify for the Games. Meanwhile, the 400 m hurdles, in which she was twice national champion, was not yet included to the Olympic program. She competed in this event at the

1980 World Championships in Athletics The 1980 World Championships in Athletics was the second global, international athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Hosted from 14 to 16 August 1980 at the De Baandert in Sittard, Nethe ...

and later at the 1984 Olympics, but failed to reach the finals. A few years after the Games she retired from competitions due to injuries and started her career as TV and radio personality. Between 1984 and 1991 she was involved with the morning exercise radio program "NOS Sport". In 1987 she married her long-time boyfriend Jaap Dekker and moved to

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of 92.353 as of 2022. It is a suburban part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the historical villages o ...

. The couple has two children. From 2000 to 2007, together with Karl Noten she presented the morning gymnastics TV program Nederland in Beweging!. In parallel, she run her fitness company Olga Commandeur PROmotions. In 2020 she made a guest appearance in the second episode of the first season of

Drag Race Holland ''Drag Race Holland'' is a Dutch reality competition streaming television series based on the American ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. The television series is produced by Vincent TV and World of Wonder. The show is the fifth international version of t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commandeur, Olga 1958 births Living people Dutch female sprinters Dutch female middle-distance runners Dutch female hurdlers Dutch heptathletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for the Netherlands People from Velsen Sportspeople from North Holland