Four Olympians from TU Delft return from Japan with their badges of honour: two silver, two bronze. For some, disappointment and pride jostled for the upper hand.
The coxless four with Proteus member Ellen Hogerwerf won a silver medal in Tokyo. From left to right: Ellen Hogerwerf, Karolien Florijn, Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester. (Photo: Merijn Soeters)
Of the five rowing medals that the Netherlands won at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, three were won with input from TU Delft students. A significant success given the severe limitations that were imposed on the entire Dutch Olympic rowing team because of a few positive tested members.
Bizarre
“We have gotten used to things,” said Architecture and the Built Environment student Roos de Jong to the TV camera about the bizarre circumstances after she and Lisa Scheenaard had rowed their way to a bronze medal in the double sculls.
The day before the finals, the pair heard that, on top of the national coach, their coach would also not be present. “We looked at each other and said that nothing would stop us. We had a clear goal and had trained for it. We needed to let everything else go.”
Extremely happy
Club member Ellen Hogerwerf of Proteus was ‘extremely happy’ with her silver medal. In March 2017 the then 28 year old student told Delta (in Dutch) that she was not yet done with rowing. ‘The first time I went to the Olympic Games it was ‘to have the experience’. The second time, I went for a medal. The latter didn’t work out in Rio. And I would only go a third time if I thought that I had a serious chance of a medal. I now know what you need to do for the Games and I know the pitfalls.’
She went, and she won. After an impressive sprint at the end she finished in second place in the coxless four, a hair’s breadth behind Australia.
Melvin Twellaar (left) and TU student Stef Broenink won silver in the double sculls. (Photo: Merijn Soeters)
Crazy
Stef Broenink (Biotechnology) and Melvin Twellaar fought it out in an exciting battle with China, France and Great Britain in the double sculls. The pair were at the front for a while, but in the end finished second behind the French by less than a metre.
‘An epic battle’ the TV commentator said about the last 500 metres of the race. “Even in normal races a lot happens, but this was crazy,” panted Broenink shortly after finishing.
‘We know what we want and we will just do it’
The ladies quad with Laga rower Laila Youssifou (Civil Engineering) did not go that smoothly. ‘A sixth place is not what we came for, but is what we got’, she posted on her Instagram page.
Rotten feeling
Disappointment also reigned for the 49er FX sailors Annette Duetz (Applied Physics) and Annemiek Bekkering. They started the medal race as leaders in their class, but their coveted gold was ‘only’ bronze.
“Right from the start we had no control and took the wrong decisions,” Duetz explained to the broadcaster, NOS. “We never sailed the race we wanted to sail and we feel rotten about this at the moment.” But once on the podium of honour, pride and happiness took over.
There were also mixed feelings for hockey player Justen Blok (Civil Engineering) after being beaten by Australia. He had not expected to take part in the action at all. “I had no expectations at all. As a reserve, I tried to look around and enjoy the experience. Then suddenly I had to play two matches. Of course that made me really happy, even if I don’t feel that now anymore.”
Indescribable
The women’s football team ended the tournament in an exciting quarter final match against the United States. Despite the substitution of Victoria Pelova (Applied Mathematics) the score stayed at 2-2, after which the Netherlands lost in penalties.
The event impressed the mid-fielder. ‘An indescribable feeling. Learned so much from everything and everyone around me’ she posted on Instagram. Her finest moments were her first two international goals in the group phase.
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