Pascal van Assendelft (born October 6, 1979 in

Leidschendam Leidschendam () is a town and former municipality in the province of South Holland of the Netherlands. Along with Voorburg and Stompwijk, it is part of the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. History The town's name has been in use for centurie ...

) is a former

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

sprinter. She started her career in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

at the age of thirteen and was to become a sprinting athlete, competing at European and Olympic level. In 2001, she took part in the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

for athletes younger than 23 years, starting in the

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standard SI prefix for a hundred is " hecto-". 100 is the b ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

and reaching the semi-final on both occasions. Two years later Pascal van Assendelft participated in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

as a member of the Dutch

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

team, together with

Jacqueline Poelman Helina Jacomina (Jacqueline) Poelman (October 5, 1973) is a former Dutch sprinter. Poelman was born and raised in Leek and trained at an athletics club in Roden. Her first major international tournament were the 1991 European Junior Championshi ...

Annemarie Kramer Anna Maria 'Annemarie' Kramer (born 15 February 1975 in Haarlem) is a former Dutch sprinter. She started with athletics at the age of twelve and soon found out that she had a special talent for the sprinting events. She was a five-time Dutch s ...

and

Joan van den Akker Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters ** Joan of Arc (c. 1412–1431), patron saint of France *Joan (surname) Art and media * ''Joan'' (Alexander McQueen ...

. Although the team did not reach the final, it nominated itself 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 ...

, realising the twelfth time out of twenty teams in competition. The 43.96 was the season’s fastest time of the Dutch four. One year later the same relay formation participated at the

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 ...

Olympic Games. They were however eliminated in the series due to a mistake in the changing area. Van Assendelft became Dutch champion

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

indoor in 2007, having obtained this title five times before, from 2001 until 2005. She also won the

and

at the Dutch National Championships in 2007. On December 18, 2007, Pascal van Assendelft announced her withdrawal from athletics. The 28-year-old athlete had taken her decision after being unable to improve her personal bests in the preceding season. During her career in athletics she was sponsored by ASICS, Franco Canadian Holland. Van Assendelft is a 2005 graduate from the

Utrecht School of the Arts The Utrecht School for the Arts () is a performing arts and visual arts educational institution in City of Utrecht, Province of Utrecht, Netherlands. The school opened for student enrollment in September 1987. Overview The institution has 6 ...

. She is a professional Interaction Designer.

Personal bests

Outdoor *

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

- 11.50 (2002) *

- 23.65 (2002) Indoor *

- 7.40 (2004)

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
Website about Pascal van Assendelft
{{DEFAULTSORT:Assendelft, Pascal Van 1979 births Living people Dutch female sprinters Olympic athletes for the Netherlands Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the Netherlands Sportspeople from Leidschendam People from Leidschendam-Voorburg Utrecht School of the Arts alumni Olympic female sprinters Athletes from South Holland 20th-century Dutch women 20th-century Dutch people 21st-century Dutch sportswomen