Dorian van Rijsselberghe
Dorian Benno Eric van Rijsselberghe is a Dutch former sailor in the RS:X class. He took his first major title in December 2011, when he became World Champion in the RS:X class in Perth, Australia.
He grew up on Texel, a small island in the north of The Netherlands. Texel has 13,717 citizens, one of whom is a two-time Olympic Windsurfing Champion. At Paal 17 he pulled his board through the sand, learned to choose waves, read wind, fly and eventually beat his brother Adriaan. The parental home of Dorian van Rijsselberghe was nearby, and is the kind of environment that you would wish for any son or daughter. Dorian won his first Dutch title when he was 13 years old. After high school, Dorian studied at the Central Institute Training Sports Leaders in Heerenveen.
At the 2012 Olympics in London he became Olympic Champion for the first time. Dorian was also flagbearer for The Netherlands at the 2012 Olympics in London and was made a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau after he won a Gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
On August 14, 2016 during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Dorian was able to extend his title and became Olympic champion for the second time in this event. During the Olympic ceremony in The Hague on 24 August 2016, he received a separate decoration in the form of a statuette. In the same year he was made an honorary citizen of Texel.
He married Sasha Plavsic in July 2014 and together they have two daughters, Lise and Rhea.
