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Johan Kenkhuis

The Olympic Games, or Olympics, is an international multi-sport event taking place every four years which comprises of summer and winter games. Though the first ancient games were held in 776 B.C, the modern games started from 1896. The unity of the 5 continents is shown on the Olympic flag by five colorful intertwined rings of red, blue, green, yellow, and black, created by Baron Pierre de Coubertin to represent at least one color of the participating country’s national flag.

Johan Kenkhuis was born on May 7, 1980 in Vriezenveen. He is an Olympic medal winning Dutch swimmer. From a young age, Kenkhuis had a strong interest in swimming. In 1998, he won gold medals in both the 100 meter and 200 meter freestyle events in the European Junior Championships. At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, Johan was a member of the bronze medal 4 by 200 meter freestyle relay team. He also helped the Netherlands win a silver medal at the FINA, Federation International Natation World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan in 2001 as a member of the 4 by 100 meter freestyle relay team.

However, by 2002, he was growing tired of the sport and close to retirement. His coach, Fedor Hes, helped him develop a different training strategy which involved spending more time on dry land. Seemingly invigorated by the new training style, Johan quickly progressed enough to win fourth place at the 50 meter freestyle event in the FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. He was only 0.01 seconds behind the bronze medalist.

In the 2004 Olympic Games, Johan was a member of the Dutch Olympic swim team. As the starting swimmer in the 4 by 100 meter freestyle relay, alongside Pieter van den Hoogenband, Mitja Zastrow, and Klaas-Erik Zwering he played a critical role in securing a silver medal in the event.

Johan is currently living in Amsterdam where he is a member of De Dolfijn SPAX swim club but trains with XLence Swimteam. He is currently a Business and Marketing major at the Johan Cruyff University in Amsterdam. Kenkhuis was one of only eleven publicly gay athletes to participate in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

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