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

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

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

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

and coordinator of the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

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

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

for the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

Early life and education

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

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 ...

. 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; , 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, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

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, () generally abbreviated NOC*NSF, is the overall coordinating Dutch sports organisation that also functions as the Dutch National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee. NOC*NSF, ...

. 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