In his hometown of Hoogvliet, judo coach Chris de Korte died on Friday at the age of 86, in the presence of his family. His former pupil and Olympic champion Mark Huizinga said this on behalf of the family. At the end of last year, De Korte was diagnosed with acute leukemia, but treatment was to no avail.
De Korte was, among other things, the driving force behind a series of successes at the Olympic Games. Between 1988 (Seoul) and 2012 (London), Angelique Seriese, Theo Meijer, Huizinga, Edith Bosch, Elisabeth Willedraadse and Anicka van Emden together won ten Olympic medals.
Schooling in Japan
De Korte started in 1957 as a judo teacher, trainer and coach in Hoogvliet. Dissatisfied with the level of knowledge of judo in the Netherlands, he left for a year in Japan in 1965 to be trained in the traditional sport. In the 1970s he first became national coach of the juniors, later also of the seniors.
He achieved his first major successes among women: under his leadership, Marjolein van Unen became European champion three times and won silver twice at a World Championship. With De Korte as coach, Seriese won eight European titles, Olympic gold in 1988 and the world title in 1995.
Huizinga also won his Olympic title in 2000 (Sydney) under De Korte, who also guided Bosch (2005) and Marhinde Verkerk (2009) to world titles. De Korte also trained many judo teachers and was promoted to the rare high 9th dan in 2005 for his services in judo. He handed over his judo school in Hoogvliet to his sons Bas and Willem in 2009. The school has been owned by a former pupil, Mark van der Ham, since 2014. (AP)