Gerard van der Linden (born 29 December 1981 in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

) is a

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

.Athlete biography: Gerard van der Linden
beijing2008.cn, ret: 7 August 2008 Van der Linden started rowing in 1992 and made his international senior debut in the lightweight fours at the 2000 World Championships in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. Together with Ivo Snijders, Dylan van der Linde and Coen Eggenkamp he finished on the 9th position. With Karel Dormans,

Jeroen Spaans Jeroen Spaans (born 17 August 1973) is a Dutch rower. He competed in the men's lightweight coxless four event at the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney ...

and

Joeri de Groot Joeri de Groot (born 29 July 1977 in Spijkenisse) is a Dutch rower. He finished 4th in the men's lightweight coxless four at the 2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and of ...

he finished third at the 2001

Rowing World Cup The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It began in 1997 and comprises three regattas (apart from in 2001 when there were four) held throughout early summer. In each ...

meeting in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, a fifth place in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and sixth at the World Championships in

Luzern Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

In 2002 Van der Linden totally focused on the lightweight double sculls together with Ivo Snijders. They became ninth and seventh in the World Cup meetings in

Hazewinkel The Hazewinkel is a 2000-meter rowing and regatta course belonging to Sport Vlaanderen in Heindonk, municipality of Willebroek, near Mechelen, Belgium. The site consists of a finish tower, boathouses, a cafeteria, and eight basic huts that ho ...

and Luzern before winning the silver medal at the Under-23 World Championships. At the senior World Championships in

they became 10th. Van der Linden, Snijders, Karel Dormans as well as Joeri de Groot started a new adventure in the lightweight double sculls in 2003, finishing second in the Munich World Cup and fourth in Luzern. These pre-tournament results earned them a place for the World Championships in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

where they won the silver medal. Their next aim was to qualify for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

and with a seventh place in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, a fourth in Munich and a fifth in Luzern they succeeded and could pack their bags for

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. They aimed for a medal at the Olympics but came just short and had to be satisfied with a fourth place. He then decided to row in the lightweight single scull in 2005, finishing fifth in

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

, third in Munich and sixth in Luzern, before becoming fifth at the World Championships in

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

. His 2006 results were almost equal with a fourth place in Munich, a fifth in Luzern and a sixth at the World Championships in Eton. In 2007 he made his comeback in the lightweight fours boat with Wolter Blankert, Arnoud Greidanus and Ivo Snijders in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

where they finished in fourth position. With Roeland Lievens and Paul Drewes as replacements of Blankert and Greidanus they improved their result to a third place in Luzern and they created some high expectations for the World Championships in Munich. They could not keep up with the expectations and only finished in a tenth position in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. For the 2008 season he rowed with Greidanus, Snijders, and Marshall Godschalk to an eight place at the World Cup in Munich. After they finished ninth in Luzern, Greidanus was replaced by Paul Drewes, and in

they rowed to a fifth place, which meant qualification for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linden, Gerard van der 1981 births Living people Dutch male rowers Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers for the Netherlands Rowers from Rotterdam