The Olympic Games are over and today no less than 53 athletes who won a medal at the Games were at Papendal to give clinics. It was their way to thank the partners of The Dutch Olympic Committee for their support. A great initiative because both companies and athletes spent golden time together.
After we had finished our regular training we fortunately had some time to go and have a look at the running track where we have trained so hard the past weeks. The track had been converted into a mini Olympic stadium. Of course there also was an Olympic Golden Clinic Flame which was lit by Olympic windsurfing champion Dorian van Rijsselberghe. After this ceremony the clinics could start and it was really entertaining. I saw the funniest scenes such as track cyclist Teun Mulder doing a judo fight with judoka Henk Grol, Horizontal Bar Champion Epke Zonderland practising the start of the 100 meters running, Golden medallist ladies 100 meters free style Ranomi Kromowidjojo riding the horse of dressage master Anki van Grunsven and our pure-bred optimist and “Dutch Usain Bolt†Churandy Martina wearing a fencing suit.
I really enjoyed this very inspiring afternoon! The icing on the cake was a photo with Churandy “happy man†Martina because no other athlete shows so much pleasure and positiveness which in my opinion are the most important ingredients for an all-out performance.
Tags: badminton, Churandy Martina, clinics, Golden clinics, jorrit de ruiter, Olympic Games, Papendal