Nicolien Sauerbreij

Nicolien Sauerbreij (, born 31 July 1979) is a Dutch professional snowboarder. She won seven World Cup races and ranked first in the parallel giant slalom standings of the 2007–2008 and the 2009–2010 World Cup.

Olympic Games At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, she was the flag bearer for the Netherlands and she was among the outsiders for a medal. Since snowboarding is a small sport in the Netherlands, Sauerbreij used the wax services provided by the Italian team. Due to using the wrong wax on her board she did not qualify among the first sixteen that entered the knock-out rounds.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin she managed to qualify among the last sixteen and was determined to prove herself on the Olympic stage. In the first knock-out round she faced German Amelie Kober. Kober fell during the first run, giving Sauerbreij the maximum advantage for the second run, 1.5 seconds. In the second run Sauerbreij decided to go down safely and not fall herself. However Kober managed to come back on Sauerbreij and beat her with 0.03 of a second in the final metres. Kober went on to reach the final and take the silver medal.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Nicolien Sauerbreij won the gold medal on the women's parallel giant slalom. This was the first Dutch medal at a non-ice skating event in the Winter Olympics, and the 100th Dutch gold medal at the Olympic Games.

Career highlights

Winter Olympics 2002 – Salt Lake City, 24th at parallel giant slalom 2006 – Turin, 12th at parallel giant slalom 2010 – Vancouver, 1st at parallel giant slalom FIS Snowboard World Championships 1999 – Berchtesgaden, 21st at giant slalom 1999 – Berchtesgaden, 21st at parallel giant slalom 1999 – Berchtesgaden, 15th at parallel slalom 1999 – Berchtesgaden, 27th at snowboardcross 2001 – Madonna di Campiglio, 22nd at giant slalom 2001 – Madonna di Campiglio, 32nd at parallel giant slalom 2001 – Madonna di Campiglio, 30th at parallel slalom 2003 – Kreischberg, 17th at parallel giant slalom 2003 – Kreischberg, 14th at parallel slalom 2005 – Whistler, 13th at parallel giant slalom 2005 – Whistler, 16th at parallel slalom 2007 – Arosa, 9th at parallel giant slalom 2007 – Arosa, 4th at parallel slalom 2009 – Gangwon, 6th at parallel giant slalom 2009 – Gangwon, 11th at parallel slalom World Cup 2001 – Mont-Sainte-Anne, 2nd at parallel giant slalom 2002 – Bad Gastein, 3rd at parallel slalom 2002 – Valle Nevado, 1st at parallel giant slalom 2002 – Sölden, 2nd at parallel slalom 2003 – Maribor, 1st at parallel slalom 2003 – Serre Chevalier, 3rd at parallel slalom 2007 – Landgraaf, 3rd at parallel slalom 2007 – Sölden, 3rd at parallel giant slalom 2007 – Nendaz, 3rd at parallel slalom 2008 – Bad Gastein, 1st at parallel slalom 2008 – La Molina, 1st at parallel giant slalom 2008 – La Molina, 2nd at parallel slalom 2008 – Sungwoo, 2nd at parallel giant slalom 2008 – Gujo-Gifu, 1st at parallel giant slalom 2008 – Stoneham, 1st at parallel giant slalom 2008 – Landgraaf, 3rd at parallel slalom 2009 – Sudelfeld, 3rd at parallel giant slalom 2010 – Kreischberg, 1st at parallel giant slalom 2010 – Nendaz, 2nd at parallel giant slalom 2010 – Sudelfeld, 2nd at parallel giant slalom European Cup 2003 – Berchtesgaden, 1st at parallel giant slalom 2004 – Haus im Ennstal, 1st at parallel giant slalom 2006 – Vratna-Terchova, 3rd at parallel giant slalom (1) 2006 – Vratna-Terchova, 2nd at parallel giant slalom (2) 2008 – Bad Gastein, 1st at parallel slalom 2008 – Sudelfeld, 1st at parallel giant slalom 2010 – Nendaz, 1st at parallel giant slalom North American Cup 2004 – Crystal Mountain, 2nd at parallel giant slalom (1) 2004 – Crystal Mountain, 2nd at parallel slalom (1) 2004 – Crystal Mountain, 3rd at parallel giant slalom (2) 2004 – Crystal Mountain, 2nd at parallel slalom (2) 2005 – Okemo, 3rd at parallel giant slalom 2007 – Bromley, 2nd at parallel giant slalom 2007 – Bromley, 1st at parallel slalom 2009 – Steamboat Springs, 1st at parallel giant slalom Continental Cup 1998 – Berchtesgaden, 3rd at giant slalom 1999 – Falcade, 2nd at parallel slalom FIS Races 1996 – Alpe d'Huez, 3rd at giant slalom 1996 – Val Senales, 2nd at parallel slalom 2000 – Lenggries, 2nd at slalom 2001 – Racines/Ratschings, 3rd at parallel slalom 2003 – Bad Gastein, 1st at parallel slalom 2004 – Kühtai, 2nd at parallel slalom 2004 – Haus im Ennstal, 1st at parallel giant slalom

Footnotes