ANPV.lnr: Sofie Dokter, Anouk Vetter and Emma Oosterwegel at the 2023 World Cup
NOS Sport•gisteren, 08:18
Anne van Eijk
athletics editor NOS Sport
Anne van Eijk
athletics editor NOS Sport
Things must be very strange if the Netherlands does not want to be present at the Paris Olympic Games with three heptathletes. This is not unique, because in 2016 this was also the case with Nadine Visser, Nadine Broersen and Anouk Vetter. But it does show that the Netherlands is doing structurally well in the all-around.
Vetter and Emma Oosterwegel, good for Olympic silver and bronze in Tokyo, are already 100 percent certain of participation because they have met the international limit. Sofie Dokter, the 21-year-old talent who trains together with Vetter and Oosterwegel, is in very good shape to qualify for the world rankings.
“She may still be overtaken by twelve athletes. I don’t see that happening,” says her trainer Ronald Vetter ahead of the European Athletics Championships in Rome, which start today. “I’m normally quite cautious with these kinds of statements, so saying this shows how much confidence I have in them.”
ANPSophie Doctor
The doctor herself remains cautious, but ultimately expresses that she has confidence in it. “My season is organized in such a way that I can be at my very best at the Games.”
Everyone starts as a heptathlete
This would mean that coach Vetter’s entire training group will travel to Paris next month. Both Dokter and Vetter look for the explanation for this success in how athletics clubs and training courses are organized in the Netherlands. Doctor: “As a pupil, everyone starts with the all-around.”
Heptathlete Doctor with Olympic ambitions at European Championships: ‘Show me where I stand’
“More than thirty years ago, a certain vision was established for the courses,” Vetter explains. “Imagine, as a ten-year-old, someone knocks on the door of an athletics club. What is he going to do? What is the best thing to do? Long run? Throwing? Jumping? That is the all-around of course, because it is versatile. The mother of all sports .”
Vetter says that the clubs arrange it in such a way that everyone starts with the all-around event. “The aim is to provide youth with a versatile education. This is also best sold to parents from a health perspective.”
“And of course you also need coaches who can train multiple components and we have had them for years.”
European Athletics Championships at NOS
The European Athletics Championships will take place from 7 to 12 June in the Olympic Stadium in Rome and can be followed daily by NOS.
The final sessions can be followed live every evening from around 8 p.m. on NPO 3 and via livestream and a live blog on NOS.nl and in the NOS app.
The heptathlon starts on the first day of the European Championships. In addition to Sofie Dokter, Marijke Esselink is participating for the Netherlands. Anouk Vetter and Emma Oosterwegel skip the European Championships.
While some athletes, such as Dafne Schippers and Nadine Visser, prefer to specialize over time, Dokter quickly made it clear that she wanted to continue doing the all-around. “I just think that’s the most fun. You have seven chances to show yourself. If one part goes badly, you still have six chances. And at a tournament you are with the group for two days. So it is also a bit more social.” .”
Cooperation with Belgium
In addition to the Dutch heptathletes, the Belgian women can also often be found at the top of the rankings. For example, Nafissatou Thiam is a two-time Olympic champion. Is it a coincidence that the Belgians also win a lot of medals? “No, I don’t think so,” Vetter said.
“It may not be a fancy thing to say, but if you were to ask the Belgian head coach, he would say: we owe a lot to the Dutch. I have given quite a few clinics there. We always have good contact with the Belgians .”
ANPRonald Vetter with daughter Anouk Vetter, showing her silver World Cup medal
Vetter cites the example of the Belgian high jumper Tia Hellebaut, who became Olympic champion in 2008. “She also started as a all-around athlete, because just like in the Netherlands, children there start with the all-around. We have done a lot together with that coach, such as training camps. And I have often had her here at Papendal. We have a great collaboration with Belgium. “
Vetter does see that in other countries the all-around event is often more appreciated than in the Netherlands. “It is in our nature to think: ordinary is good enough. If someone does well, it is still a bit meager in terms of sponsorship. It is almost a shame that we are not in England or Switzerland. Because then they would girls earn quite a lot of money with what they are doing now.”
But there is certainly no shortage of appreciation from fellow athletes and fans, according to Vetter. “Usain Bolt was once said: you are the king of this tournament. Then he said: no, that is the winner of the all-around.”
