{"id":129155,"date":"2021-08-13T11:40:29","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T09:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=129155"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:47","slug":"everything-made-sense-and-that-made-us-unbeatable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/08\/13\/everything-made-sense-and-that-made-us-unbeatable\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Everything made sense and that made us unbeatable’"},"content":{"rendered":"

After five years of training, prepping, resting, postponements, uncertainties and above all, more training, the Olympic season is over. Over the past year and a half, five EUR students have spoken on this website about their trip to the Olympics. Now that the flame has been snuffed out in Tokyo after being postponed for a year, three of them speak about their experiences one last time.<\/p>\n

Marieke Keijser won bronze in the lightweight double sculls <\/h2>
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Marieke Keijser (right) and Ilse Paulis (left) a few days before their match<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarieke Keijser<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cI\u2019m a bit out of it at the moment, but I do want to be really proud as soon as I can.\u201d The bronze medal that Marieke Keijser won at the end of last month together with Ilse Paulis on the rowing course in Tokyo is one with a rather special story and a few mixed feelings. Because, as she said a year and a half ago, the gold medal was really the only one she would have been happy with.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018The magic of the Olympics wasn\u2019t there\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

But that was the idea before the rollercoaster ride that was to follow. The Dutch rowing team soon had to deal with corona infections in Japan. Not only did that mean that Keijser\u2019s two coaches suddenly had to be quarantined, but the whole experience of the Games changed for her as well. \u201cThe past few weeks have felt like months, with each day bringing another letdown. The whole procedure has been almost unreal. At a certain point, it really became a matter of survival. It wasn\u2019t any fun; you couldn\u2019t enjoy things anymore. The magic of the Games wasn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there was the race itself. For some time, it looked as if the rowing pair were on their way to gold, despite all the problems caused by corona. But a mistake made by Keijser in the last few metres resulted in their golden dream going up in smoke. \u201cI thought we had the gold medal in our pocket, so the way we lost really hurts. But I think the bronze medal is worth even more because of everything that happened. It is a medal we got at the Olympics after all, even though it\u2019s still not the one we were going for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018I did notice too in the period before the Games how much fun and wonderful top-level sport is\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Keijser does not yet have an answer to the question as to how she will feel after these Games. She plans to use the coming period to give all these impressions a place. \u201cThis was not the experience that I had been working extremely hard for over the past few years. I think that it will hit me again, but it is very difficult to have an opinion about it right now. I\u2019m really going to enjoy life in the coming period and try to get back on my feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

But at the end of the interview, she stresses that she\u2019s not down and out now either. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing wrong with me. I just don\u2019t know when I will be able to enjoy rowing again. I\u2019ll probably also get back into the sport, because I did notice too in the period before the Games how much fun and wonderful top-level sport is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Lees meer<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t