The final stretch towards the Paris Olympic Games (26 July to 11 August) has now really begun. Next Saturday, the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee (BOIC) will announce the official selection of Team Belgium — a post-war record of 150 to 160 athletes — and on Monday evening the base camps were officially inaugurated. These are six clusters where, starting this week, Belgian athletes can put the finishing touches to their preparations for Paris in a closed and Olympic-style environment. “We expect that around a hundred, or just under two-thirds of all Belgian athletes, will use the Team Belgium Base Camp for at least part of their preparations,” says Chef de Mission Olav Spahl.
The existing top-level sports infrastructure of the communities forms the basis of the base camps. This infrastructure was brought up to Olympic level with a considerable additional budget. For example, the entire Olympic competition setup of Paris for the gymnasts was copied in the Ghent Topsporthal. This allows Nina Derwael and co. to train in Ghent on an exact copy of the Olympic competition podium – including the same equipment from the brand Gymnova. “It is simply the perfect preparation”, explains Olympic champion Nina Derwael. “It is an exact replica of what it will be like in Paris. I can do exactly the same thing here as I will do in a month at the Games. I don’t think there is a single country in the world that has what we have here. You can also see that from the number of countries that have passed by here in recent weeks.”
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Narrower beam
The Canadian men’s Olympic team, the Dutch women’s team and former Olympic rings champion Eleftherios Petrounias have all come to train in Ghent. The fact that they can also train on the same apparatus as they will soon be using in Paris makes a significant difference. “The apparatus of each brand is different anyway,” says Derwael. “There is a big difference between the Spieth apparatus that we normally train on and the Gymnovas that are used in Paris. That’s about the suspension of the bridge, the shape of the beam,… I swear the Gymnova is narrower. I want to measure it (laughs). These are not insurmountable differences, but normally you need two to three weeks to fully adapt.”
The Gymfed left nothing to chance and also placed all the apparatus on a podium, as will be the case in Paris. “A podium like that always bounces a little and that gives a different feeling during landing, for example,” Derwael explains. “Normally we would only be able to adapt to the circumstances in Paris, but now we can use that time to perfect our exercises. It is those details that make the difference.”
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The only downside of that great construction in Ghent? The gigantic countdown clock above the stands that counts down to the start of the Olympic Games. “We really hate that clock,” says Derwael with a smile. “We keep asking them not to turn it on, but every time we enter the hall it follows us. It reminds me every training session how quickly the Games are coming. It stresses me out.”
Fortunately, this is compensated by the fact that Derwael can prepare for Paris in peace at home instead of in a foreign camp like for the Games in Rio and Tokyo. “I actually prefer to stay in my own familiar environment for as long as possible. My own bed, my own pillow, my dog close to me… That gives me peace.”
Five other locations
The Team Belgium Base Camp not only has a base in Ghent, but also at five other locations. Antwerp is the meeting place for sports such as swimming, badminton, kayak sprint, rowing and hockey. Top sports infrastructure includes the Wezenberg Olympic swimming centre, the Topsportschool in Wilrijk, the Sport Vlaanderen domain Willebroek (Hazewinkel) and the Sportcentrum Wilrijkse Pleinen.
The Louvain-la-Neuve/Brussels cluster welcomes athletes from athletics, taekwondo, tennis and judo, for example in the athletics hall of the ‘Centre Sportif de Blocry’ in Louvain-la-Neuve. The Sport Vlaanderen Heusden-Zolder Velodroom Limburg forms, together with Hasselt, the base for cycling (track and BMX). Kortrijk is traditionally the home base of the Belgian Cats. And finally, there is Marseille, where the Belgian sailors can optimally prepare for the Olympic water.
The Base Camp will be supplemented with a Team Belgium ‘Get Together’. This will give all athletes and delegation members the opportunity to meet and get to know each other before the start of the Games. The meeting place will be the Atomium on Wednesday 10 July. From 19 July, the first athletes will travel to Paris by Eurostar.
The Antwerp Wezenberg swimming pool
