Nicolaas Hessel Rienks (born February 1, 1962 in Tiel

Tiel

' is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands.The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river on the south and the north side, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal on the east side. The city was founded in the 5th century AD....

, Gelderland

Gelderland

Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,...

) is a former rower

Rowing (sport)

Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

 from the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and two-time Olympic gold medallist.

Rienks won the gold medal in the men's double sculls at the 1988 Summer Olympics

Rowing at the 1988 Summer Olympics

Rowing at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul featured 14 events in total, for men and women, held on the Han River Regatta Course.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-See also:*Rowing at the Summer Olympics*Olympic medalists in rowing...

, alongside Ronald Florijn

Ronald Florijn

Ronald Florijn is a former rower from the Netherlands and two-time Olympic gold medallist.Florijn won the gold medal in the men's double sculls at the 1988 Summer Olympics, alongside Nico Rienks...

. At the 1996 Summer Olympics

Rowing at the 1996 Summer Olympics

Taking place at Lake Lanier, Georgia, United States, the 1996 Summer Olympics saw the debut of lightweight rowing events. The three included replaced the remaining coxed events for men and the Women's Coxless Four...

, he repeated his gold medal performance winning the eight with coxswain event with the Holland Acht (Holland Eight).

With Henk-Jan Zwolle

Henk-Jan Zwolle

Henk-Jan Zwolle is a former rower from the Netherlands and two-time Olympic medallist. He competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1988....

 he won the gold medal in the double sculls competition at the 1991 World Rowing Championships

World Rowing Championships

The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA . It is a week long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the international rowing calendar.The first event was held in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1962...

.

He was named 'Dutch Rower of the Century' and is an honorary member of the Dutch Rowing Federation

In 2004, Rienks was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal

Thomas Keller Medal

The Thomas Keller Medal is given by the International Rowing Federation for an outstanding international career in the sport of rowing. It is the highest honor in rowing and is awarded to any athlete within five years of his/her retirement from the sport...

 by the International Rowing Federation

International Rowing Federation

The Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Aviron, or FISA for short, is the International Rowing Federation which is the governing body for international Rowing. Its current president is Denis Oswald...

.