PROVINCE OF UTRECHT – Top athletes come in all shapes and sizes. From flashy and tough to shy and modest. They’re just ordinary people. The athletes who impress me the most are often the ones who remain ‘themselves’. Staying close to yourself isn’t easy when success grows. We all know the stories of young talents who went crazy when all the attention became too much.
Panning screeching engines with a dozen masculine colleagues around you on the edge of the world-famous Geert Timmer chicane at the TT in Assen was without a doubt a dream come true for this sports photographer. The challenge of being immersed in the roaring sound of the Grand Prix engines
taking the camera with the athletes along (i.e. panning) to take sharp photos gives a squeak.
Running the way it’s meant to be
But when push comes to shove, my love goes even more to sports that ‘just’ involve a physical battle without technical, fuel-consuming aids. On an athletics track, lying on your stomach along the inside bend, just a meter away, seeing athlete Femke Bol pass through your lens is truly a privilege.
She floats almost silently over the track. Like her feet don’t even touch the floor. Running the way running is meant to be. You only see that things really don’t go smoothly once the finish has been crossed. She was completely empty on the track at the Dutch indoor championships two weeks ago. I sat next to it.
Once she had caught her breath, she spoke to everyone in her cheerful own way. A breath of fresh air. She returned from Serbia this weekend with two silver World Cup medals. A fantastic achievement by a unique athlete. But above all a nice person. A gem in the desert. One to cherish.
