“The last weeks have been very busy. I was asked for a lot of interview sessions and ceremonies, but I declined most of them and I tried to focus on running hard in Brussels. It is exciting to race against Allyson, Elaine and all the other girls around. I hope that I’m ready.”
“Analysing my races in Beijing I think that there is still some work to do on my start and on the first part of my race. I’m still only 23 and I hope that I can make more progress in the next years. Which one is my favourite event ? I’m not sure. In the 100m I can improve if my start gets better. The 200m requires more experience and race judgment. To go to Rio as one of the favourites doesn’t put any pressure on me. I think I handle the pressure well.’’
‘‘I was expecting to run below 22 seconds in Beijing, but 21”63 is a lot faster than what I was hoping for. All World Records will be broken one day. I must admit that I am thinking more about the World Record now than I did before the World Championships.”
‘’I won’t compete in the Heptathlon anymore, even when I like it during the winter to train for different events and I will continue to do so. But I do have the idea of competing in the Long Jump next year every now and then. I’m hoping to jump beyond 7.00m. I train for the Long Jump every two weeks and if I can concentrate a bit more on that I think I will achieve that goal.’’
‘‘Having the European Championships on home soil in Amsterdam next year is a great opportunity for Dutch Athletics and for me. I will compete in one event then and it is still to be decided whether it will be the 100m or the 200m. In Rio I will definitely opt for the double. And in the Relay of course where the Netherlands have a strong and a young team that is able to make it through to the final.’’
10 September, 2015