Netherlands at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Flag of the Netherlands
IOC code	NED
NOC	Dutch Olympic Committee* Dutch Sports Federation
Website	www.nocnsf.nl (in Dutch)
in Antwerp
Competitors	130 in 15 sports
Medals Ranked 9th	Gold 4 Silver 2 Bronze 5 Total 11
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

The Netherlands competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. 130 competitors, 129 men and 1 woman, took part in 58 events in 15 sports.^[1]

Medalists

Gold

• Piet de Brouwer, Joep Packbiers, Janus Theeuwes, Driekske van Bussel, Jo van Gastel, Tiest van Gestel, Janus van Merrienboer, and Theo Willems — Archery, Men's Team Competition
• Maurice Peeters — Cycling, Men's 1.000m Sprint (Scratch)
• Cornelis Hin, Frans Hin, and Johan Hin — Sailing, Men's Dinghy
• Berend Carp, Joop Carp, and Petrus Wernink — Sailing, Men's 6½ Meter Class

Silver

• Wilhelmus Bekkers, Johannes Hengeveld, Sytse Jansma, Henk Janssen, Antonius van Loon, Willem van Loon, Marinus van Rekum, and Willem van Rekum — Tug of War, Men's Team Competition
• Petrus Beukers and Arnoud van der Biesen — Sailing, Men's Dinghy

Bronze

• Piet Ikelaar — Cycling, Men's 50 km Track Race
• Frans de Vreng and Piet Ikelaar — Cycling, Men's 2.000m Tandem
• Arie de Jong — Fencing, Men's Sabre Individual
• Arie de Jong, Louis Delaunoij, Jetze Doorman, Willem van Blijenburgh, Jan van der Wiel, Henri Wijnoldij-Daniëls, and Salomon Zeldenrust — Fencing, Men's Sabre Team
• Arie Bieshaar, Leo Bosschart, Evert Jan Bulder, Jaap Bulder, Jan de Natris, Harry Dénis, Ber Groosjohan, Frits Kuipers, Dick MacNeill, Henk Steeman, Jan van Dort, Oscar van Rappard, Ben Verweij, and Felix von Heijden — Football (soccer), Men's Team Competition

Aquatics

Swimming

Four swimmers, including one woman, represented the Netherlands in 1920. It was the nation's debut in the sport. None of the swimmers advanced to an event final.

Ranks given are within the heat.

Men

Women

Water polo

The Netherlands competed in the Olympic water polo tournament for the second time in 1920. A modified version of the Bergvall System was in use at the time. The Netherlands lost 2–1 to Belgium in the quarterfinals. Because Belgium eventually finished with the silver medal, the Dutch had a chance to play for the bronze. In the bronze medal quarterfinals, they defeated Czechoslovakia. They fell to Sweden in the bronze semifinals, however.

• Squad

Quarterfinals

Belgium

2–1

Netherlands

Antwerp

Bronze medal quarterfinals

Netherlands

7–0

Czechoslovakia

Antwerp

Bronze medal semifinals

Sweden

9–1

Netherlands

Antwerp

Final rank

5th

Archery

The Netherlands sent eight archers in its second Olympic archery appearance. The Dutch archers competed in a single event, the team moving bird at 28 metres. Facing off against a Belgian team and a French team, the Netherlands squad took the gold medal.

Archer	Event	Final
		Score	Rank
Piet de Brouwer Joep Packbiers Janus Theeuwes Driekske van Bussel Jo van Gastel Tiest van Gestel Janus van Merrienboer Theo Willems	Team moving bird, 28 m	3087

Athletics

11 athletes represented the Netherlands in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in athletics. Paulen's seventh-place finish in the 800 metres was the country's best result in the sport to date.

Ranks given are within the heat.

Boxing

Eight boxers represented Netherlands at the 1920 Games. It was the nation's debut in boxing. None of the boxers made it past the quarterfinals.

Boxer	Weight class	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / Bronze match
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Jan Hesterman	Middleweight	Bye	Bradley (RSA) L	Did not advance			9
Wim Hesterman	Featherweight	Rankin (CAN) W	Bouvy (BEL) L	Did not advance			9
Johannes Heuckelbach	Welterweight	Schannong (DEN) L	Did not advance				17
Ko Janssens	Lightweight	N/A	Cassidy (USA) L	Did not advance			9
Paul Munting	Middleweight	Bye	Herscovitch (CAN) L	Did not advance			9
Herman Nak	Lightweight	N/A	Grace (GBR) L	Did not advance			9
Nelis van Dijk	Flyweight	N/A	Pedersen (DEN) L	Did not advance			9
Ted Zegwaard	Flyweight	N/A	Virtue (GBR) W	Cuthbertson (GBR) L	Did not advance		5

Opponent nation Wins Losses Percent  Belgium 0 1 .000  Canada 1 1 .500  Denmark 0 2 .000  Great Britain 1 2 .333  South Africa 0 1 .000  United States 0 1 .000 Total 2 8 .200

Round Wins Losses Percent Round of 32 1 1 .500 Round of 16 1 6 .143 Quarterfinals 0 1 .000 Semifinals 0 0 – Final 0 0 – Bronze match 0 0 – Total 2 8 .200

Cycling

Ten cyclists represented the Netherlands in 1920. It was the nation's second appearance in the sport. Peeters won the sprint event. Ikelaar took the bronze in the 50 kilometres, and added another bronze along with de Vreng in the tandem. The three medals were the first Olympic cycling medals for the Netherlands, and put the country in third place in the cycling leaderboard for the Games.

Road cycling

Track cycling

Ranks given are within the heat.

Cyclist	Event	Heats		Quarterfinals		Repechage semis		Repechage final		Semifinals		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Tjabel Boonstra	Sprint	Unknown	3	Did not advance
Franciscus de Vreng	Sprint	Unknown	3	Did not advance
Petrus Ikelaar	Sprint	Unknown	2 Q	Unknown	3 R	Unknown	4	Did not advance
	50 km	N/A										Unknown
Anton Krijgsman	50 km	N/A										Did not finish
Willem Ooms	50 km	N/A										Did not finish
Maurice Peeters	Sprint	Unknown	2 Q	13.2	1 Q	Advanced directly				12.6	1 Q	13.0
Arie van der Stel	50 km	N/A										Did not finish
Pieter Beets Tjabel Boonstra	Tandem	N/A		Unknown	3	N/A				Did not advance
Franciscus de Vreng Petrus Ikelaar	Tandem	N/A		12.6	1 Q	N/A				Unknown	2 B	Unknown
Pieter Beets Franciscus de Vreng Petrus Ikelaar Maurice Peeters	Team pursuit	N/A		Unknown	2	N/A				Did not advance

Equestrian

A single equestrian represented the Netherlands in 1920. It was the nation's debut in the sport. Sirtema competed in the individual eventing competition, finishing in 20th place.

Fencing

Ten fencers represented the Netherlands in 1920. It was the nation's fourth appearance in the sport. The country's best results were in the sabre competitions. De Jong won the bronze medal in the individual event and two others reached the final; it was the only individual event in which the team had any finalists. The sabre team also captured a bronze medal.

Ranks given are within the group.

Fencer	Event	First round		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Wouter Brouwer	Épée	3–3	5 Q	3–7	8	Did not advance
	Foil	N/A		2–4	4	Did not advance
	Sabre	N/A		3–4	5	Did not advance
Adrianus de Jong	Épée	6–2	2 Q	6–4	4 Q	4–7	8	Did not advance
	Foil	N/A		4–4	4	Did not advance
	Sabre	N/A		5–2	3 Q	5–1	2 Q	6–5
Louis Delaunoij	Épée	3–6	7	Did not advance
Willem Hubert	Épée	3–6	7	Did not advance
Jan van der Wiel	Épée	5–2	1 Q	1–10	12	Did not advance
	Foil	N/A		1–6	7	Did not advance
	Sabre	N/A		6–2	1 Q	3–3	3 Q	6–5	5
Félix Vigeveno	Épée	2–6	8	Did not advance
	Foil	N/A		3–2	3 Q	2–3	4	Did not advance
	Sabre	N/A		2–5	7	Did not advance
Henri Wijnoldij-Daniëls	Épée	4–3	3 Q	4–6	7	Did not advance
	Sabre	N/A		4–3	4 Q	4–2	1 Q	4–7	9
Salomon Zeldenrust	Épée	3–5	7	Did not advance
	Foil	N/A		5–3	4	Did not advance
Wouter Brouwer Adrianus de Jong Jan van der Wiel Félix Vigeveno Salomon Zeldenrust	Team foil[2]	N/A				0–2	3	Did not advance
Adrianus de Jong Louis Delaunoy Jetze Doorman Willem Hubert Jan van der Wiel Salomon Zeldenrust	Team sabre[2]	N/A						5–2
Adrianus de Jong Jetze Doorman Willem Hubert George van Rossem Henri Wijnoldy-Daniëls Salomon Zeldenrust	Team épée[2]	N/A				2–2	4	Did not advance

Football

The Netherlands competed in the Olympic football tournament for the third time, winning its third straight bronze medal. The team had a fairly easy win over Luxembourg in the first round before requiring extra time to defeat Sweden in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, the Netherlands lost to eventual gold-medalist Belgium. This relegated the Dutch team to the consolation tournament for silver; they received a bye into the consolation final when France turned out to have left the Olympics. In the match for silver and bronze, the Netherlands were defeated by Spain to finish in third place.

First round

28 August 1920

Netherlands	3–0	Luxembourg
J. Bulder 30' Groosjohan 47' 85'	Report

La Butte, Brussels

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Georges Hubrecht (BEL)

Quarterfinals

29 August 1920

Netherlands	5–4 (a.e.t.)	Sweden
Groosjohan 10' 57' J. Bulder 44' 88' (pen.) de Natris 115'	Report	Karlsson 16' 32' Olsson 20' Dahl 72'

Broodstraat, Antwerp

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Josef Fanta (TCH)

Semifinals

31 August 1920

Belgium	3–0	Netherlands
Larnoe 46' Van Hege 55' Bragard 85'	Report

Olympisch Stadion, Antwerp

Attendance: 22,000

Referee: John Lewis (GBR)

Consolation final

5 September 1920

Spain	3–1	Netherlands
Sesúmaga 7' 35' Pichichi 72'	Report	Groosjohan 68'

Olympic Stadium, Antwerp

Attendance: 14,000

Referee: Paul Putz (BEL)

Final rank

Bronze

Rowing

Twelve rowers represented the Netherlands in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. None of the three Dutch boats advanced to the finals.

Ranks given are within the heat.

Sailing

Eight sailors represented the Netherlands in 1920. It was the nation's second appearance in the sport. The Dutch had their best possible result, with two gold medals and one silver. The two Dutch 12-footers were the only boats to contest that event, while the 6½ metre team defeated a French boat.

Sailors	Class	Race 1		Race 2		Race 3		Total
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Score	Rank
Petrus Beukers Arnoud van der Biesen	12 foot	Unknown
Bernard Carp Johan Carp Petrus Wernink	6½ metre (1919)	Unknown
Cornelis Hin Frans Hin Johan Hin	12 foot	Unknown

Shooting

Fifteen shooters represented the Netherlands in 1920. It was the nation's fourth appearance in the sport. Klaas Jan Pen competed, but it is not known in which event.

Tug of war

The Netherlands competed in the Olympic tug of war tournament for the first time in 1920, the final appearance of the sport in the Olympics. The Bergvall System was used in 1920. The Dutch beat Italy in the semifinals to advance to the final against Great Britain. There they lost to the British, and had to continue in the silver medal rounds. The Netherlands received a bye into the silver medal finals, where they beat Belgium to take the silver.

All matches were best-of-three pulls.

Semifinals

 

Netherlands (NED)	2–0	Italy (ITA)

 

Final

 

Great Britain (GBR)	2–0	Netherlands (NED)

 

Silver medal match

 

Belgium (BEL)	0–2	Netherlands (NED)

 

Final rank

Silver

Weightlifting

Five weightlifters represented the Netherlands in 1920. It was the nation's debut in the sport. Ringelberg's fourth-place finish was the best of the year for the Dutch weightlifters.

Wrestling

Nine wrestlers, all in the Greco-Roman discipline, competed for the Netherlands in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. The Dutch wrestlers won no medals, but came close in a few instances. The format turned out to be particularly unfortunate for Jan Sint, who advanced to the final in the light heavyweight but finished without a medal after being defeated by Johansson in the final and losing again in the silver medal semifinal. Jaap Sjouwerman advanced to the heavyweight semifinals, but did not get a chance to compete for silver or bronze after his semifinal loss to an opponent who did not win gold or silver.

Greco-Roman

Wrestler	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Rank
				Silver quarters	Silver semis	Silver match
				Bronze quarters	Bronze semis	Bronze match
Barend Bonneveld	Heavyweight	Did not advance	Ahlgren (SWE) (L)	Did not advance			12
				Did not advance
				Did not advance
Carl Coerse	Lightweight	Bainconneau (FRA) (W)	Halík (TCH) (W)	Andersen (NOR) (L)	Did not advance		10
				Did not advance
				Did not advance
Johannes Eillebrecht	Middleweight	Westergren (SWE) (L)	Did not advance	Did not advance			5
				Bye	Lindfors (FIN) (L)	Did not advance
				Balej (TCH) (W)	Perttilä (FIN) (L)	Did not advance
Willem Leloux	Middleweight	Nielsen (DEN) (L)	Did not advance	Did not advance			19
				Did not advance
				Did not advance
Johannes Nolton	Lightweight	Lindberg (SWE) (L)	Did not advance	Did not advance			18
				Did not advance
				Did not advance
Willem Roels	Featherweight	Boumans (BEL) (L)	Did not advance	Did not advance			17
				N/A	Did not advance
				Did not advance
Jan Sint	Light heavyweight	Bye	Testoni (ITA) (W)	Snoeck (BEL) (W)	Wahlem (BEL) (W)	Johansson (SWE) (L)	4
				N/A	Eriksen (DEN) (L)	Did not advance
				N/A
Jaap Sjouwerman	Heavyweight	Did not advance	Vergos (GRE) (W)	Nilsson (SWE) (W)	Ahlgren (SWE) (L)	Did not advance	9
				Did not advance
				Did not advance
Johannes van Maaren	Featherweight	Gallery (USA) (L)	Did not advance	Did not advance			17
				N/A	Did not advance
				Did not advance

Opponent nation Wins Losses Percent  Belgium 2 1 .667  Czechoslovakia 2 0 1.000  Denmark 0 2 .000  Finland 0 2 .000  France 1 0 1.000  Greece 1 0 1.000  Italy 1 0 1.000  Norway 0 1 .000  Sweden 1 5 .167  United States 0 1 .000 Total 8 12 .400

Round Wins Losses Percent Round of 32 1 5 .167 Round of 16 3 1 .750 Quarterfinals 2 1 .667 Semifinals 1 1 .500 Final 0 1 .000 Silver quarterfinals 0 0 – Silver semifinals 0 2 .000 Silver match 0 0 – Bronze quarterfinals 1 0 1.000 Bronze semifinals 0 1 .000 Bronze match 0 0 – Total 8 12 .400

Demonstration sports

Korfball

Organized by the Dutch Korfball Association, two Dutch teams gave a korfball demonstration, with a match on 22 August in the Olympisch Stadion.