On Tuesday, King Willem Alexander and Queen Máxima welcomed Olympic athletes to Noordeinde Palace.
Their Majesties organised the reception to congratulate Olympic medal winners and to thank them for all the emotions that they have brought in the Netherlands during the Games.
The reception was part of a series of celebrations to welcome home athletes after such an unusual edition of the Olympics; earlier in the day, they were welcomed at the Sportcamp Zuiderpark by Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sports, Paulus Blokhuis. In the evening, they will be offered a public reception at the Olympic Park, during which members of the public will be able to offer their support and congratulations.
King Willem Alexander inaugurated the Olympic Park on the day the Olympic Games started and was created to allow the Dutch public to gather safely to watch the country’s athletes compete.
Therefore, it will be extremely poignant for athletes to be able to visit the place where many people united in cheering them on and receive the warmth they missed during the Games themselves.
King Willem Alexander was supposed to travel to Tokyo as an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee but was prevented from doing so by new rules, both in the Netherlands and in Japan, regarding stricter health safety measures.
The Games were held without public presence, and the few cheers that could be heard came from other team members filling the public’s spots. Tokyo’s prefecture took this decision about a month and a half before the start of the Games when it became clear that the territory was experiencing a worrisome rise in cases.
The King and Queen of the Netherlands have been among the many royals who have opted for the use of social media to instead show their support for athletes, and many encouraging messages signed by Their Majesties have graced the Royal Palace’s social media accounts over the past two weeks.
