{"id":111409,"date":"2020-03-24T16:44:39","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T15:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=111409"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:51","slug":"on-the-road-to-tokyo-its-very-weird-to-no-longer-know-what-youre-doing-it-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/03\/24\/on-the-road-to-tokyo-its-very-weird-to-no-longer-know-what-youre-doing-it-for\/","title":{"rendered":"On the road to Tokyo: \u2018It\u2019s very weird to no longer know what you\u2019re doing it for\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Olympics. Five students had Tokyo 2020 flagged in their agenda for years and hoped to study again after the summer with a medal in their pocket. For many athletes, postponement of the Olympics throws a spanner in the works, but also offers clarity after weeks of speculation. Water polo player Iris Wolves dreamed about participating in the Olympics, but was already in uncertainty in recent weeks due to a cancelled qualification tournament.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>

Wolves and her teammates missed out on direct qualification at the end of last year, and the plan was to qualify last week. Due to the corona pandemic, Wolves was already at home. EM spoke to her twice in recent weeks, before the Olympics were finally postponed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s annoying, because we were all set to play the deciding match Saturday next week. And now it has suddenly been pushed back twelve weeks.\u201d It\u2019s early March when we meet Iris Wolves (25, Health Law master programme) on a Tuesday afternoon in a coffee shop in Utrecht. She tells us about the bizarre week she has had. Just over a week ago, she was waiting with the other members of the Dutch national water polo team at Schiphol Airport for their flight to Hungary. That\u2019s where they would be playing the final preparation match for the Olympic Qualifiers (OQ).<\/p>\n

\u201cSchiphol is where we first heard that the OQ might be cancelled. There were also rumours that the final scores of the previous World Championships could be used to determine which teams would be competing in Tokyo. If so, we wouldn\u2019t be one of them.\u201d Wolves and her teammates departed for Hungary anyway, but the dreaded news came in a few days later: the OQ would be postponed to a later date in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels as if we worked really hard for nothing. Which isn\u2019t the case, of course, because you\u2019re getting in shape. But all of a sudden, the moment you\u2019ve been training for all that while isn\u2019t next week, but in twelve weeks\u2019 time.\u201d And so, Iris has something else to look forward to that Tuesday afternoon. \u201cA week\u2019s holiday in Spain with my boyfriend. I\u2019m really looking forward to it. Rest for a bit rather than check the NOS app every five minutes for the latest corona update.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catch in the living room <\/h2>
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure><\/div>

When we talk again over the phone, Wolves laughs when she\u2019s reminded of what she said to us two weeks ago. Because like her fellow top athletes \u2013 and the rest of the Netherlands, for that matter \u2013 her life has been turned upside down by the corona crisis. Forget the OQ; she has to stay in quarantine. Which means playing catch in the living room, rather than training in a pool with her teammates. \u201cYes, things have got even weirder. We didn\u2019t really hear much news while we were on holiday. But I was only home one day when they told us that as of that Monday, the training locations for top athletes would be closed for the time being.\u201d<\/p>\n

While their \u2018regular\u2019 lives have already been affected by the outbreak, this latest development has probably had even more of an impact on the water polo players. Since last summer, the members of the Olympic selection have travelled back to the Netherlands from all over the world to jointly realise their Olympic dream. Five days per week, the team came together to train at a pool in Zeist. Until the COVID-19 outbreak trashed that plan and, as a consequence, Iris\u2019s new \u2018full-time job\u2019. Now she\u2019s at home, waiting to see what happens next.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, there are a lot of new uncertainties. To be honest, I don\u2019t feel too confident the OQ will be going ahead.\u201d But no one knows what will happen in that case. Until there\u2019s more certainty, the only thing Wolves can do is try and keep in shape. But that can be tricky if you don\u2019t have a pool nearby. \u201cI do power training and go out for runs. And yes, I occasionally play catch with my boyfriend. But that\u2019s very different to practising in a pool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t