HRH Koning Willem-Alexander

Willem-Alexander was a member of the IOC from 1998-2013 when he was titled as HRH Prince of Orange. He ascended to the throne of the Netherlands on 30 April 2013 when his mother abdicated, and he became His Majesty, King of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Willem-Alexander is an avid sportsman, attending sporting events with his wife, Princess, and later Queen, Máxima, at which they are often seen rooting wildly for the Dutch teams. He raced the 1986 Elfstedentocht, a 200 km (120 miles) speed skating tour through 11 Frisian towns, and ran the 1992 New York City Marathon (finishing 19,992nd in 4-32:09), both times using the pseudonym W. A. van Buren, to avoid media attention.

Williem-Alexander studied at the University of Leiden, earning a masters degree in history. He has always had great interest in international water management issues, serving as chairman of the Advisory Committee on Water to the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment from 2004-13, and he was Chairman of the United Nations’ Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation from 2006-13. Willem-Alexander served as a reservist in the Royal Netherlands Army, Navy, and Air Force, eventually reaching the ranks of brigadier-general (2005), commodore (2005), and air commodore (2005), respectively.

When he ascended to the throne of the Netherlands in 2013, Willem-Alexander withdrew from several of his roles, because of the appearance of conflicts of interest. During his 15-year tenure on the IOC he served on several commissions, including Olympic Solidarity, Marketing, IOC 2000 Reform Follow-up, the Evaluation Commission for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, and the Coordination Commissions for the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Winter Games.