Nico Rienks

Nico Rienks
Rienks in 1988
Personal information
Born (1962-02-01) 1 February 1962 (age 62)
Tiel, the Netherlands
Height1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight96 kg (212 lb)
Sport
SportRowing
ClubOkeanos, Amsterdam
Medal record
Representing the  Netherlands
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1988 Seoul Double scull
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Eight with coxswain
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Barcelona Double scull
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1991 Vienna Double sculls
Silver medal – second place 1989 Lake Bled Double sculls
Silver medal – second place 1994 Tampere Eight
Silver medal – second place 1995 Indianapolis Eight

Nicolaas "Nico" Hessel Rienks (born 1 February 1962) is a former rower from the Netherlands and two-time Olympic gold medallist.[1]

Rienks won the gold medal in the men's double sculls at the 1988 Summer Olympics, alongside Ronald Florijn. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, he repeated his gold medal performance winning the eight with coxswain event with the Holland Acht (Holland Eight). He also competed at the 1984 and 2000 Olympics but finished outside the podium.[1]

With Henk-Jan Zwolle he won the gold medal in the double sculls competition at the 1991 World Rowing Championships. He also won three silver medals at the world championships in 1989 (double sculls), 1994 and 1995 (eights).[2]

He was named 'Dutch Rower of the Century' and is an honorary member of the Dutch Rowing Federation.[3] In 2004, Rienks was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal by the International Rowing Federation.[4]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference r1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference r2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference r3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference r4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).