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How do you find the best moments of these Games in 220 hours of Olympic television? Eleven NOS commentators look ahead to the highlights of ‘their’ sports.
ATHLETICS Léon Haan: ‘Athletics is a special combination of running, jumping and throwing. That makes it’s fascinating. Moreover, it’s very expressive, on television you see all the emotion on the faces immediately of the athletes. The competition is killing people worldwide, so it is very difficult to reach the international top. That is why athletics is miles away for me above any other sport. I find these Games are very interesting to see what distances Sifan Hassan is going to do, she can start in the 1500 meters, the 5000 meters, but 10,000 meters I but marathon. What choices does she make and what show them at those distances? But I’m also looking forward to the pole vault with the Swede Duplantis, who is constantly pushing his limits, and of course the 400 meter hurdles with Femke Bol and the American McLaughlin. That’s gonna be a beautiful duel.’
TRACK CYCLING, BMX AND MOUNTAIN BIKING Jeroen Koster: ‘They are three very various disciplines of cycling. BMX is short and powerful, which is why it appeals to young people. A race lasts 35 seconds, about the attention span of the average teenager. And if you are in the top four, you have to move on very quickly. Good BMX riders try to complete their laps at 80 or 90 percent, so that they have something left for the final.
You know the cat-and-mouse game from track cycling, to force each other’s heads. In the 70s they stood still for half an hour, now that is no longer allowed. I like both the sprint and the endurance events. The madison is one big circus with two hundred laps, the riders themselves sometimes call it a washing machine they are in. While cycling they are also calculating.
Mountain biking is more like road cycling, but even more spectacular. With big rocks that they have to go over. In BMX, I am very curious about the Smulders sisters and certainly also about Manon Veenstra. For the latter, it has often not been quite right. She has always believed in herself and with a New Zealand coach she has fought her way back to the world top. It would be wonderful for the heroism of the sport if Manon wins a medal.’
BADMINTON Richard van der Made: Badminton is a unimaginably fast and explosive sport. Just like tennis is it too a mental game, where you try to take away the initiative from each other in order to push the other into defense. Our mixed doubles team with Selena Piek and Robin Tabeling could theoretically go far, but in sports anything is possible. After the group stage it gets difficult, badminton is just like handball a global sport. Strong countries are mainly China, South Korea, Japan and Malaysia, and in Europe Denmark. For the experienced couple Piek/ Tabeling reaching the next round is already very good, but it would be great if they can pull off a stunt during their last Games.’
Read more in VARA guide 30/31. From Tuesday 23 July in the store, on the mat and in the VARA guide-app.
2024-07-22 10:05:10
#moments #Olympic #Games #Eleven #NOS #commentators #ahead #VARAgids
