Van Riessen thinks back to the terrible fall after European Championship bronze: ‘Keep it with you’

Van Riessen was left with several broken ribs, a broken collarbone and a collapsed lung from that fall. She spent weeks in a Japanese hospital and even celebrated her birthday from her hospital bed.

“Last week it was my birthday again,” said Van Riessen, who turned 35 on August 10. “Last year I got cake in bed in the hospital. It’s not that I’m still very concerned about it, but you keep taking it with you.”

According to Van Riessen, what happened on the cycling track in Germany on Monday was “a reward” for her months of rehabilitation. “The crash in Tokyo was actually the motivation to get back on the bike as soon as possible,” she explains.

“I had trained so much for the Games, I was just that good. And when I was in the hospital, I thought: I can’t just let this go away and do nothing more.”

“You will never be able to make it right, it is the Games”, Van Riessen realizes. “I am happy that I can show something again. In the corona time I have made great progress, but I have not been able to show it anywhere yet.”

“We’ve had very few games in the last two years,” she continues. “This is the first major tournament in which I can participate again and it is great to be able to participate in this way.”

Her participation in the European Championships in Munich can already be called successful after the sprint part. For the first time in her cycling career, she picked up a championship medal in an individual number one. In her skating career, she already succeeded with an Olympic bronze in the 1,000 meters. “It took a while,” laughs Van Riessen. “But It worked.”

And whether the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 are still possible for the 35-year-old track cyclist? “My plan runs up to and including the World Cup. That is the new Games for me.”