POSTED: Wednesday January 20th 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wietse van Alten Appointed Athlete Role Model for the Youth Olympic Games

The 2000 Olympic bronze medallist Wietse VAN ALTEN (NED) was appointed "Athlete Role Model" for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

The Athlete Role Models programme was implemented by the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOCOG). The Athlete Role Models are Olympians selected by the International Federations whose involvement will be crucial for the Youth Olympic Games Culture and Education Programme. The Athlete Role Models must exemplify the Olympic values - both on and off the field of play. Their role is to share their life story and experience with young people and answer their questions. The Athlete Role Model appointed by World Archery (FITA) is the 2000 Olympic bronze medallist Wietse VAN ALTEN from the Netherlands.

VAN ALTEN was born on 24 September 1978 in Zaandam, Netherlands. He came in contact with the archery at age 7 through his best friend of the time, and has competed in archery since that age. After 4 years of national and club competitions, Wietse started his international career at age 11 in a junior competition in Lilleshall (GBR). At the age of 16, Wietse left his parents' home in Zaandam and moved to the South of the Netherlands to optimize his training in archery. He became a member of the senior national team in 1994.

VAN ALTEN's first major international competition was the 1999 World Archery Championships where he placed 8th, earning a spot on the Dutch Olympic team.

In the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, VAN ALTEN lost to Simon FAIRWEATHER of Australia in the semifinals, but rebounded with the highest score of the tournament for a 12-arrow match by scoring 114 in the bronze medal match to defeat Magnus PETERSSON (SWE) and win the bronze medal. The Dutch team, of which he was a member, placed 9th in the men's team competition.
After suffering an elbow injury that required surgery in 2001, VAN ALTEN returned to success in competition in 2003 when he placed 6th at the World Archery Championships held in New York, United States.

VAN ALTEN competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics, trying to defend his bronze medal from Sydney. His score in the 72-arrow ranking round was 661, giving him a starting rank of 14th. He won his first match 152-151 against Ricardo MERLOS of El Salvador, advancing to the 1/32 elimination round. In the 1/16 elimination round, he was defeated by Ilario DI BUO of Italy 164-160. His final rank was 27th overall. VAN ALTEN was also a member of the Netherlands' 5th-place men's archery team at those Olympics.

VAN ALTEN has shot many European records and is one of the few Europeans to have shot more than 1350 points. His personal record in the FITA Round is 1358. He was ranked 1st in the world in August 2004.

VAN ALTEN obtained the team bronze medal at the 2008 European Championships in Vittel (FRA) and although the Netherlands had obtained a quota place for the Beijing Games, he was not selected and retired from competition. He is now the Dutch national coach for recurve (Olympic discipline) archery and trainer in a full-time talent program in the Netherlands, where he trains young archers on their way to London 2012. At the 2007 FITA Congress in Leipzig (GER) VAN ALTEN was elected member of the FITA Athletes' Committee.

Besides his full-time involvement in archery, Wietse is very fond of road cycling, which he finds really challenging, and you can also find him camping outdoors on a lake bed fishing for big carps!

Before the Singapore Youth Olympic Games, like all Athlete Role Models, Wietse VAN ALTEN will try to ensure Youth Olympic Games promotion towards the youth of his sport. During the Games, he will participate in the life of the Village, interacting with young participants and local youth. He will take part in the Culture and Education programme through forums, activities and sessions developed around themes like Athletes Skills development, Olympism, Social Responsibility (such as humanitarian question or environment protection), Risks in sport (including doping and injury prevention). The Athlete Role Models will also participate in sports initiation developed by the SYOGOC and the International Federations.

FITA congratulates Wietse VAN ALTEN for his new position within the Olympic movement and wishes him all the best in this function!

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Keywords · FITA · Wietse VAN ALTEN · Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games · archery

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Name: Vanahé Antille
Organization: FITA World Archer Federation
Email:
Phone: +41 (0)21 614 3050
URL: http://www.worldarchery.org

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