University of Groningen Honors Female Olympic Athletes with New Additions to the Olympic Wall

University of Groningen Honors Female Olympic Athletes with New Additions to the Olympic Wall

(IN BRIEF) The University of Groningen’s Olympic Wall at the ACLO Sports Centre has expanded with the addition of portraits of three female athletes: Yara ten Holte (handball), Ruth Vorsselman (canoeing), and Ilse Kolkman (rowing), all of whom competed in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The Olympic Wall, established in 2012, honors students and staff who have combined their academic studies with Olympic participation. The unveiling ceremony, led by Rector Magnificus Jacquelien Scherpen, also saw an update to the portrait of para-cyclist Caroline Groot, who won gold in Paris. Scherpen noted the inspiring achievements of these women and expressed hope that male students would follow suit in future Olympic Games.

(PRESS RELEASE) GRONINGEN, 3-Mar-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — The Olympic Wall at the ACLO Sports Centre on the Zernike Campus in Stad has been updated with portraits of three exceptional athletes who studied at the University of Groningen (RUG) and competed in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Handball player Yara ten Holte, canoeist Ruth Vorsselman, and rower Ilse Kolkman have all been honored with their own images on the wall, joining other notable athletes such as Epke Zonderland.

Introduced in 2012, the Olympic Wall at the University of Groningen’s Sports Centre celebrates the achievements of students and staff who have successfully balanced their academic pursuits with competing in the Olympic Games.

Yara ten Holte, a handball goalkeeper, graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Movement Sciences. She represented the Dutch national team in Paris, where they reached the quarter-finals, narrowly losing to Denmark. Canoeist Ruth Vorsselman earned her Master’s in Biomedical Engineering in 2020, and at the Paris Olympics, she finished eighth in the K2 500-meter final. Rowing athlete Ilse Kolkman, who studied Orthopedagogics at the UG and completed her Master’s in 2021, was part of the reserve team in Paris, awaiting potential action.

The unveiling of the new portraits was carried out by Jacquelien Scherpen, Rector Magnificus of the University of Groningen, who also added a new image for para-cyclist Caroline Groot. Caroline, a law student at the UG, won gold in the 500-meter time trial at the 2024 Paris Games, further contributing to the university’s impressive legacy.

Jacquelien Scherpen expressed pride in the achievements of the athletes: “They have all delivered outstanding performances, driven by perseverance, dedication, and hard work. The same level of commitment is evident in their studies. It is wonderful that our university supports the combination of top-level sport and academic success.”

Notably, the most recent additions to the Olympic Wall exclusively feature female athletes. Scherpen humorously pointed out, “We now have four incredible women featured, and let’s not forget Marloes Oldenburg and Ymkje Clevering, who also won gold in Paris and studied here as well. Perhaps this will inspire more male students at the UG to aim for the Olympics, ensuring the wall becomes more balanced in the future.”

Media Contact:

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SOURCE: University of Groningen