Shooter Hennie Dompeling sought his fifth Olympic bid as one of the most sophisticated members of the team, having missed the medal podium in the men's skeet from Sydney four years earlier.

Among the Dutch athletes of the team, several of them were born outside the Netherlands and became naturalized citizens, including sprinter Troy Douglas, who competed for three Olympics under the Bermudian flag, badminton players Mia Audina from Indonesia and Jie Yao from China, and taekwondo jin Charmie Sobers from the Netherlands Antilles.

Netherlands' team-based athletes proved particularly successful in Athens, as the men's and women's field hockey teams took home silver medals.

[9] Head coach: Terry Walsh The following is the Dutch roster in the women's field hockey tournament of the 2004 Summer Olympics.

M = Medal race; OCS = On course side of the starting line; DSQ = Disqualified; DNF = Did not finish; DNS= Did not start; RDG = Redress given Three Dutch shooters qualified to compete in the following events: Dutch swimmers earned qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the A-standard time, and 1 at the B-standard time): * Competed only in heats and received medals * Competed only in heats and received medals Two Dutch synchronized swimmers qualified a spot in the women's duet.