Rita van Driel (born February 25, 1961) is a Dutch board executive of the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

since 2009. During her time with the IPC, she was an evaluator of the

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), was an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the Inte ...

and coordinator of the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

. Before joining the IPC, van Driel was an evaluator of the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

for the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

Early life and education

Rita van Driel was born on February 25, 1961, in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

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 the 1980s, she completed a teacher's college program and specialized as a gym teacher. Afterwards, van Driel went to the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

to complete her post-doctorate in sports management. In 2013, she completed an additional certificate from the World Academy of Sports.

Career

In 1984, van Driel started her career as an elementary school teacher in Rotterdam. She moved onward in 1989 to the Dutch Ski Federation and became an instructor for skiers with disabilities. After leaving her instructing position in 1997, she worked as a high school skiing teacher until 2001. Outside of her teaching career, van Driel has been a part of multiple sporting organizations. In 2003, van Driel started her position at the

as part of the evaluating committee for the

. In 2008, van Driel started to work at the

NOC*NSF The Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation, ( nl, Nederlands Olympisch Comité*Nederlandse Sport Federatie) generally abbreviated NOC*NSF, is the overall coordinating Dutch sports organization that also functions as the Dutch National Ol ...

. The following year, she was elected onto the board of governors for the

. During her time at the IPC, van Driel was selected to be an evaluating member of the

in 2014, and as a coordinator of the

in 2016. Van Driel was reelected to the IPC in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Driel, Rita van 1951 births Living people International Paralympic Committee members Sportspeople from Rotterdam University of Groningen alumni