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Dutch treat Overall gold goes to the Netherlands
The United States sat proudly atop the medals table come games end. Russia ruled the European roost. China reigned in Asia. Hosts Australia collected more medals than it ever had before. But if one nation was to take the gold for overall achievement at the Games of the XXVIIth Olympiad, I would put the prestigious gong around the collective necks of the people of the Netherlands. Sydney for the orange-clad brigade was one long Dutch treat. The Netherlands finished eighth in the medals table, with 12 golds, nine silver and four bronze. A fabulous effort for a such a tiny European nation with a population only a fraction that of China, the USA and Russia and well below that of Germany, Britain and France. New Zealand's University of Waikato, Hamilton likes to compile its own medals table. It measures overall performance of countries by awarding points for gold, silver and bronze related to the populations of each nation. The Bahamas, with one gold and one silver from a population of 300,000, is first on the university's list with a total of 28.67 points. That's well clear of second-placed Australia with 9.63 (16 golds, 25 silver, 17 bronze. Polulation 17.9 million). Next come Cuba, Norway, Jamaica and Hungary. Then the ever so plucky Netherlands in 7th. Just so you can make a comparison, researchers at the university put Britain 35th with 1.58 points (GB finished 10th in the normal medals table) and the USA (top of the simple medal count) 39th with 1.13. So there's double Dutch delight to be had, whichever list the good folk of Holland peruse. Success came across quite a wide spectrum. The men's field hockey team continued to dominate that sport with a golden penalty shootout victory against South Korea. There was a one-two in the individual show jumping. Anky Van Grunsven won a gold and silver in dressage. The Dutch baseball team caused one of the all-time great shocks by defeating world powers Cuba, perhaps softening them up just a little for the Americans or at least giving the U.S. belief this Cuban machine was aging and sputtering.
Then there were three of the superstars of the Sydney Games -- two in the pool, one on a bike. Inge de Bruijn won three golds and a silver and set three world records in swimming. The Queen of the Aquatic Center wasn't without her doubters. Remember the comment from American Amy van Dyken after the 50-meter freestyle semifinals? De Bruijn won a short sprint by a lengthy margin. "I could win by that much if I was a man too," piped van Dyken in a clearly audible aside. And I always thought that with a name like van Dyken, she had to have some Dutch blood in her somewhere down the family line.
De Bruijn was unperturbed. After all, she's a Dutch heroine (no drugs pun intended). Equally heralded in the lowlands now is male swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband. Two golds and two bronze for him, two world records as well -- and a famous 200 freestyle victory against Australia's favorite son Ian Thorpe. In cycling, the Dutch treat was provided by Leontien Ziljaard. Three Olympics titles and a silver for good measure. She was the road warrior who refused to be passed. Mark Huizinga won gold in the men's 90kg judo event, while other medals came in the men's individual archery ( Wietse van Alten -- bronze), women's field hockey (bronze), women's tennis ( Kristie Boogert and Mirian Oremans -- silver) and sailing ( Margriet Matthijsse -- silver in Europe class). Rowing boosted the Dutch tally. Three silvers came in the women's double sculls, women's eight and men's quad sculls. There were gaps, most notably in track and field, But it was an all-around showing which covered the Netherlands in a warm, orange glow -- a reflection of an extraordinary amount of brilliant Olympic gold. Phil Jones is a co-host of "World Sport," the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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