She already knew a lot, but to see it all together like that? “I found that shocking,” says Rita van Driel, interim director of triathlon association NTB. Thursday appeared a long-awaited, independent investigation to abuses in sport, especially in the national training center in Sittard, where promising athletes sometimes moved in as early as 15 or 16 years of age to learn to swim, cycle and run better.
The conclusions are tough: for fifteen years there was a toxic atmosphere and transgressive behavior in the training in Sittard, where just under a hundred people trained during that period. “The loneliness there must have been very great,” says Van Driel now. “It’s about young people who want to break through in a tough sport. Far from home, with a lot of impact on their social lives. And they are totally dependent on the people who guide them.”
The abuses that the researchers uncovered are countless. For example, there was “bullying and emotional abuse” by both fellow athletes and staff. Athletes felt pressured to lose weight and over-train. Studying (at a level) was “discouraged and criticized” by the management. Some of the athletes left the training location in Sittard with sometimes long-lasting complaints such as ‘eating problems, depressed feelings and overtraining’.
Complaints were “bought away”, and the board was subject to “a power bloc” and the appearance of a conflict of interest.
And then there was also cheating with top sports compensation: some of the athletes were pressured, with the knowledge of the sports umbrella organization NOC-NSF, to transfer part of that compensation with incorrect invoices to the NTB, which redistributed the money among others. athletes. This has sometimes even led to problems with the tax authorities.
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It was already clear that something was wrong in the triathlon world: triathlete Maya Kingma, a participant in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, sounded the bell years ago. But for a long time she was opposed. That changed when a smaller-scale study last year also revealed how much was wrong in the triathlon world. Drop by drop the board and part of the staff then left of their own accord.
Van Driel, an experienced sports director in the International Paralympic Committee, among others, was appointed as interim director in February, after she had been recruited as a ‘social safety adviser’ three months earlier.
For Kingma there was rehabilitation on Thursday: by the union she was explicitly praised for her tenacity. She apologized, as did other athletes who “felt unheard and unseen.”
What is the priority now?
“We will talk to every athlete who reports: what would help you best? Sometimes that could be financial compensation. For example, some athletes have had financial woes [met de Belastingdienst]. Others may still suffer from eating disorders. We may need outside expertise for these kinds of matters. We are a small sports association, and these are big issues.”
The sports federation is very powerful. In Trouw, Maya Kingma spoke of a monopoly: the federation provides guidance, has the facilities and determines who runs races. How do you break that?
“You can’t completely break through that. But we have to determine and explain who is allowed to participate in a training camp or a competition on the basis of objective criteria. In the past, that happened too little. There is still a lot of mistrust, I notice. You are not going to solve that in a few months.”
Several people have resigned from the union, but there are still people around who are associated with missteps. What will happen to them?
“It seems obvious to me that we are going to have conversations with them. Complicating this situation is that we now focus on what went wrong. But there are also plenty of athletes who have experienced their time as pleasant. We should not be too rigorous. I think we have done well so far, although the outside world may think: weak bite.”
Can the training facility in Sittard continue to exist?
“It is clear that, apart from the location, we have to look at the added value of such a central training program. I think it’s way too early to say: we have to end that. Changes have already been made. For example, there is a lifestyle coach who guides young people. It is underexposed, but there are now young athletes in Sittard who feel good and develop well. And minors are no longer there: it is more convenient if athletes have completed secondary school and have a better idea of what they want to do with their lives afterwards.”