DSM becomes innovation partner of Dutch Olympic bobsled team

Heerlen, NL, Royal DSM N.V. today announces its sponsorship of the Dutch bobsled team, TeamNL, which will represent the Netherlands at the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver in February. This sponsorship is part of DSM’s program ‘Innovation is our Sport™’, which focuses on the development of innovative products in the area of nutrition and materials for and together with top athletes. As part of this program, DSM has been an important partner in the TopBob project, which resulted in the new two-man bob that achieved excellent results in the World Cup.

TeamNL’s pilot of the two-man as well as the four-man bobsled, Edwin van Calker, has qualified for both disciplines. Saturday, 16 January, Edwin made history, together with Sybren Jansma, by winning the first World Cup medal for the Netherlands on the bobsled run of St. Moritz (Switzerland). They won their medal in the brand-new bobsled co-developed by DSM.

‘TeamNL and DSM are a perfect fit. The bobsled team represents top results, ambition and teamwork. DSM supports them with innovations in materials on their road to the Winter Games in Vancouver,” said Rob van Leen, DSM’s Chief Innovation Officer. ”I’m proud of the result that Edwin van Calker and Sybren Jansma achieved this weekend during the World Cup in St. Moritz in the brand-new two-man bobsled. I wish them, and all other members of TeamNL, every success at the Olympic Games.’

Edwin van Calker: ‘In the top league of bobsledding, a few hundredths of a second can make the difference between medal contention and not winning a medal at all. The material that we have at our disposal is of the utmost importance. Therefore I am very happy with the support of DSM. I am convinced that our cooperation will accelerate a further improvement in the achievements of TeamNL.’

In the TopBob project, DSM cooperates with several other parties, including Eurotech, Modesi and universities of technology. The project’s aim is to enable the Netherlands to close the gap with the traditional bobsled countries and join the world top. The project, initiated by the Dutch bobsled association, Bob en Slee Bond Nederland (BSBN), and InnosportNL, is aiming at the Olympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi, but is ahead of schedule with regard to the development of materials.

As a Partner in Sport of the Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC*NSF), DSM is supporting the Dutch Olympic team with innovations in the field of nutrition and materials in order to help the team achieve top performances. The innovations for the 2008 Olympic Summer Games of Beijing included DSM’s development of a new Olympic boat in the 470 class for the Dutch women sailors Marcelien de Koning and Lobke Berkhout, who won a silver medal.

DSM and sports
Sport is about performing at a top level, day in, day out. About passion, ambition, wanting to be the best, about continuous improvement and teamwork. As such, sport embodies a number of DSM’s core values. Innovation is one of the main spearheads of DSM’s strategic course and it is equally important in the world of sports: innovations in the fields of nutrition and materials can mean the difference between victory and defeat. DSM and the Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC*NSF) have been ‘Partners in Sport’ since 2001, supporting top athletes with innovations: Innovation is our Sport™. For more information please visit: sports.dsm.com.