Nicolien Sauerbreij
Nicolien Sauerbreij (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈnikoːˌlin ˈsʌuwərˌbrɛi̯], born 31 July 1979) is a Dutch professional snowboarder.[1] She won seven World Cup races and ranked first in the parallel giant slalom standings of the 2007–2008 and the 2009–2010 World Cup.[1] She competed in the Winter Olympic Games of 2002, 2006 and won the gold medal in the women's parallel giant slalom in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Dutch | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 31 July 1979 De Hoef, Netherlands | |||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Amsterdam, Netherlands | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 57 kg (126 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www.nicoliensauerbreij.nl | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Snowboarding | |||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Parallel slalom Parallel giant slalom | |||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Maarten Sauerbreij | |||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Biography
Nicolien Sauerbreij was born in the small village De Hoef in the province Utrecht in the Netherlands.[1] She has a sister Marieke Sauerbreij, who is also a professional snowboarder. Her father is Maarten Sauerbreij, who is also her coach.
Her first podium position was in the world cup in Mont-Sainte-Anne 2001. She became second in the parallel giant slalom.
On 15 September 2002 she won her first World cup in the parallel giant slalom. This was in Chile at the Valle Nevado. In the same season she had her second victory in Slovenia at the Maribor.
Sauerbreij has also competed in several world cups with success, achieving several podium positions, including first placings in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2010. She finished first in the overall standings of the parallel giant slalom World Cup in the 2007–2008 World Cup season[1] and also first in the overall standings of the parallel giant slalom World Cup in the 2009–2010 World Cup season.[1]
She won the 2010 Dutch sportswoman of the year award.[2]
Olympic Games
At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, she was the flag bearer for the Netherlands and she was among the outsiders for a medal. Since snowboarding is a small sport in the Netherlands, Sauerbreij used the wax services provided by the Italian team. Due to using the wrong wax on her board she did not qualify among the first sixteen that entered the knock-out rounds.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino she managed to qualify among the last sixteen and was determined to prove herself on the Olympic stage. In the first knock-out round she faced German Amelie Kober. Kober fell during the first run, giving Sauerbreij the maximum advantage for the second run, 1.5 seconds. In the second run Sauerbreij decided to go down safely and not fall herself. However Kober managed to come back on Sauerbreij and beat her with 0.03 of a second in the final metres. Kober went on to reach the final and take the silver medal.
At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Nicolien Sauerbreij won the gold medal on the women's parallel giant slalom .[3] This was the first Dutch medal at a non-ice skating event in the Winter Olympics, and the 100th Dutch gold medal at the Olympic Games.[4]
Career highlights
- Winter Olympics
- 2002 – Salt Lake City, 24th at parallel giant slalom
- 2006 – Torino, 12th at parallel giant slalom
- 2010 – Vancouver,
- FIS Snowboard World Championships
- 1999 – Berchtesgaden, 21st at giant slalom
- 1999 – Berchtesgaden, 21st at parallel giant slalom
- 1999 – Berchtesgaden, 15th at parallel slalom
- 1999 – Berchtesgaden, 27th at snowboardcross
- 2001 – Madonna di Campiglio, 22nd at giant slalom
- 2001 – Madonna di Campiglio, 32nd at parallel giant slalom
- 2001 – Madonna di Campiglio, 30th at parallel slalom
- 2003 – Kreischberg, 17th at parallel giant slalom
- 2003 – Kreischberg, 14th at parallel slalom
- 2005 – Whistler, 13th at parallel giant slalom
- 2005 – Whistler, 16th at parallel slalom
- 2007 – Arosa, 9th at parallel giant slalom
- 2007 – Arosa, 4th at parallel slalom
- 2009 – Gangwon, 6th at parallel giant slalom
- 2009 – Gangwon, 11th at parallel slalom
- World Cup
- 2001 – Mont-Sainte-Anne,
- 2002 – Bad Gastein,
- 2002 – Valle Nevado,
- 2002 – Sölden,
- 2003 – Maribor,
- 2003 – Serre Chevalier,
- 2007 – Landgraaf,
- 2007 – Sölden,
- 2007 – Nendaz,
- 2008 – Bad Gastein,
- 2008 – La Molina,
- 2008 – La Molina,
- 2008 – Sungwoo,
- 2008 – Gujo-Gifu,
- 2008 – Stoneham,
- 2008 – Landgraaf,
- 2009 – Sudelfeld,
- 2010 – Kreischberg,
- 2010 – Nendaz,
- 2010 – Sudelfeld,
- European Cup
- 2003 – Berchtesgaden,
- 2004 – Haus im Ennstal,
- 2006 – Vratna-Terchova,
- 2006 – Vratna-Terchova,
- 2008 – Bad Gastein,
- 2008 – Sudelfeld,
- 2010 – Nendaz,
- North American Cup
- 2004 – Crystal Mountain,
- 2004 – Crystal Mountain,
- 2004 – Crystal Mountain,
- 2004 – Crystal Mountain,
- 2005 – Okemo,
- 2007 – Bromley,
- 2007 – Bromley,
- 2009 – Steamboat Springs,
- Continental Cup
- 1998 – Berchtesgaden,
- 1999 – Falcade,
- FIS Races
- 1996 – Alpe d'Huez,
- 1996 – Val Senales,
- 2000 – Lenggries,
- 2001 – Racines/Ratschings,
- 2003 – Bad Gastein,
- 2004 – Kühtai,
- 2004 – Haus im Ennstal,
Footnotes
- Nicolien Sauerbreij at the International Ski Federation
- Sportvrouw van het Jaar – official website (retrieved 2011-09-29) (in Dutch)
- "Ladies' Parallel Giant Slalom, Finals". www.vancouver2010.com. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- "Honderd keer goud ... of 102?". NOS. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
External links
- Nicolien Sauerbreij (official website)
- Nicolien Sauerbreij at the International Ski Federation
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Marianne Vos |
Dutch Sportswoman of the year 2010 |
Succeeded by Ranomi Kromowidjojo |
| Olympic Games | ||
| Preceded by Carla Zijlstra |
Flagbearer for Salt Lake City 2002 |
Succeeded by Jan Bos |
| Big air |
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| Giant slalom |
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| Halfpipe |
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| Parallel giant slalom |
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| Parallel slalom | |
| Slopestyle |
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| Snowboard cross |
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Authority control  |
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