Nicolien Sauerbreij
Nicolien is born in De Hoef, a small place in the province Utrecht, in the centre of the green heart of Holland. Because of the inexhaustible energy of her parents, Nicolien learned to ride a horse, surfing, sailing, ice skating, cycling and even judo and karate.
When she was 2 years old, she was on ski's for the first time and she was thought the trics of wintersport. This was because her father was a ski instructor and he was crazy for the sport. When she was 12 years old, she began snowboarding, on a homemade snowboard. The real material was too large for her. The manufacturers did not think about the young snowboarders at that time.
The first competitions were indoor in Holland and after that the National Championships followed in the real snow. When she was 14 years old, she competed at the Youth National Championships and became 4th. Of course that was a pleasant surprise for her and from that moment on Nicolien made a big step and focused just on snowboarding. The entire school period she could make arrangements for her competitions in the winter period. But when she was back, she had to be at the same level as the others with her study. This combination was very hard and Nicolien became very self disciplined. When she was 18, she entered the complete World Cup circuit, which mean she would not be able to go to school the entire winter period. In the end she gained her diploma by going to education for adults.
In 2002 and 2006 she competed at the Winter Olympics, but unfortunately no medals. During these years she also started another education: Science of Management. At some point after Turin she thought about quiting, but because of her victory in 2 World Cups, she was glad she did not make that decision.The average age for a top snowboarder is about 30 years, so that offers chances! And this seems to be true! Full of confidence and joy she travelled to Vancouver for the Winter Olympics. And she became OLYMPIC CHAMPION of 2010!!
competition results
2002-2006
2 x 1st at WorldCup, 8 x medals;
2nd end average WorldCup 2002/2003
8 x 1st at Europa Cup, 17 x medals
2007 - 2009
4 x 1st WorldCup, 4x medals
2 x 1st Europa Cup
2 x 1st National Championships
2009- 2010
2 x 1st Worldcup, 3 medals
OLYMPIC CHAMPION
1 x 1st Europa Cup
2010- 2011
Silver at the World Cup in La Molina in the parallel slalom.
Competition Program 2011/2012
13/10/2011 Landgraaf NED WC PSL
14/10/2011 Landgraaf NED WC Testmatch3PSL
25/11/2011 Hochfugen AUT EC PGS
03/12/2011 Carezza ITA WC PGS
04/12/2011 Carezza ITA WC PSL
15/12/2011 Telluride USA WC PGS
19/01/2012 Nendaz CHE WC PGS
28/01/2012 Sudelfeld GER WC PGS
25/02/2012 Stoneham CAN WC PGS
03/03-2012 Moskou RUS WC PSL
10/03/2012 La Molina ESP WC PGS
17/03/2012 Valmalenco ITA WC PGS
If you want to know more about Nicolien Sauerbreij, visit her own website: www.nicoliensauerbreij.nl
