Background
Van Alten was born in Zaandam, in the municipality of Zaanstad.
Van Alten was born in Zaandam, in the municipality of Zaanstad.
He has competed in archery since the age of seven. Van Alten"s first major international competition was the 1999 World Target Competition. He placed 8th there, earning a spot on the Olympic team
The Netherlands team, of which he was a member, placed 9th in the men"s team competition.
After suffering an elbow injury which required surgery in 2001, van Alten returned to success in competition in 2003 when he placed 6th in the World Target Competition held in New York, United States. His score in the 72-arrow ranking round was 661, giving him a starting rank of 14th.
In the second round of elimination, he was defeated by Ilario Di Buò of Italy 164-160. His final rank was 27th overall.
Van Alten competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in men"s individual archery, trying to defend his bronze medal.
Van Alten was also a member of the Netherlands" 5th-place men"s archery team at the 2004 Summer Olympics, along with Pieter Custers and Ron van der Hoff.