Diederik Rudolf Simon (born 10 April 1970 in Bloemendaal,

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

) is a rower from the Netherlands, who competed for his native country in five consecutive

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 ...

. He won the gold medal with the ''Holland Acht'' (Holland Eight) at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. He earned silver medals in the Men's Quadruple Sculls ( Sydney 2000) and in the Men's Eights (

Athens 2004 The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

). After becoming a coach, he rejoined the national team in 2007, placing fourth at the Beijing Olympics (2008) and fifth at the London Olympics (2012), both in the Dutch Men's Eights. He trained for his sixth Olympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016, but was not selected for the Dutch team. Simon auctioned off his Olympic gold medal to raise money for Nereus Rowing Club in Amsterdam. He left his second silver medal in an Athens taxi but it was returned to him after he reported the loss to the police.

References

External links

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Dutch Olympic Committee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Diederik 1970 births Living people People from Bloemendaal Dutch male rowers Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers of the Netherlands Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from North Holland