They have only just returned with a gold and bronze medal from the European Under-23 Championship in Bulgaria, but twin brothers Marcel and Tyrone Sterkenburg from Hilversum are already back in training. Their goal: Greco-Roman wrestling gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The 20-year-old identical twins are working hard on their wrestling career. Marcel became world junior champion in the class up to 82 kilograms last year. Tyrone won silver at the World Championships in his own weight class last year. And the brothers can now also add gold and bronze to that list after the European Under-23 Championship in Bulgarian Plovdiv.
Paris 2024
With such prizes under his belt, it is now time to focus on the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The chance that they will come back with a gold medal is therefore high, according to Marcel and Tyrone. “We have already shown that we can beat seniors. So we can do that again.”
It is not possible to face each other on the mat in the final. Tyrone is a weight class higher. “That just happened because Tyrone can eat a lot, which I have more trouble with,” says Marcel. “Where he eats one plate, I eat two,” Tyrone adds. In addition, their father did not want them to face each other.
Talent
The brothers’ talent was spotted early, at their father’s boxing gym. Former wrestlers who trained there saw the brothers frolic and immediately saw the talent they had. This is how they came into contact with classical martial arts and that was love at first sight. “We are natural fighters and this is the most natural way of fighting there is.”