Athlete management · Dorian van Rijsselberghe
Twelve years alongside an Olympic champion
Since 2014, we have managed Dorian van Rijsselberghe’s career, covering partnerships, communications, his own platform, lifeofdorian.com, and all press and media. First through Marvin & Miles, and since 2019 through 87KNOTS, where Dorian is our founding client.
Dorian van Rijsselberghe is a two-time Olympic windsurfing champion: gold in London in 2012 and gold again in Rio in 2016. A Texel native, entrepreneur and founder of the Dorian Foundation. Since 2014, we have handled everything around him.
The partnership began in 2014, when Bart managed him through Marvin & Miles. In 2019, that management moved with him to 87KNOTS. Dorian was the agency’s first client and is therefore our founding client. Twelve years, one point of contact, spanning an Olympic title, a world title, a retirement and a second career.
Management and partnerships
We lead the conversations with partners, negotiate the contracts and make sure the agreements are followed through. Not just the signature, but the year after as well: what does a partnership deliver, what does Dorian get in return, and does it still align with what he stands for?
That last point is not an afterthought with Dorian. Partners such as Samsung, Delta Lloyd, the Dutch Watersports Association, Brunotti, WWF and a range of Texel-based companies are not a random collection of logos; they connect to the island, the water and the environmental issues he is committed to. If a potential partner does not fit, we turn it down — even when the money is good.
Communications and content
Rather than relying solely on the attention of others, we gave Dorian a place of his own: lifeofdorian.com. It tells his story in his own words, built around the idea that “Becoming an Olympic champion is fantastic, but the journey to get there is even better.” No press-release language, but blogs about a week of competition, about Texel, about the Olympics and about creating a better world.
We create and edit those blogs together with him and take care of the content around them — from photography and video to social media. That way, there is always something ready when it matters. That owned channel has paid for itself many times over during his career. Perhaps most importantly on the day when the news was not about a medal: when he ended his career in March 2020, he was able to announce it
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