Aruba left the Netherlands Antilles in 1986 to become a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Since then, their athletes have competed separately under their own Olympic banner. After the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba became part of the Netherlands as special municipalities of the Netherlands. Curaçao and Sint Maarten became separate constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 2016, athletes from these five islands will have the choice to compete either with the Netherlands Olympic team or Aruba's.
Five-star flag of the Netherlands Antilles (since 1986 until dissolution). Because Aruba separated from the Netherlands Antilles, only five stars are left on the flag.
Jan Boersma was the only Netherlands Antillean athlete to win an Olympic medal, a silver medal in sailing in 1988. They nearly earned another silver in men's 200m in Beijing 2008. Churandy Martina finished second, behind Usain Bolt but was disqualified after an American protest due to his running outside of his lane during the race. Martina's disqualification was appealed but was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on March 6, 2009.[3]