René Nico Hubertus Klaassen (born March 4, 1961 in Velp) is a former

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

defender 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 ...

, who participated in two

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

: in Los Angeles (1984) and in Seoul (1988). He ended up in sixth place in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

with the Dutch National Men's Team, and won the bronze medal in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

four years later, after defeating

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

(2-1) in the Bronze Medal Game. Klaassen earned a total number of 126 caps, scoring three goals, in the years 1984–1990. He was also on the side that won the world title in Lahore, Pakistan. After that tournament he retired from international competition.

External links

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Dutch Hockey Federation
1961 births Living people People from Rheden Sportspeople from Gelderland Dutch male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players of the Netherlands Field hockey players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics 1990 Men's Hockey World Cup players 20th-century Dutch people 21st-century Dutch people {{Netherlands-Olympic-medalist-stub