Bosom friends help the Netherlands with its first medal in Beijing: ‘We are also expected to be world top’ | Olympics

“Silver with a golden edge”, says Kampschreur directly. The sit skier came for gold, but is very happy with his silver medal. ,,I had to take a lot of risk’, he explains his joy. ,,I had agreed with my coach before the last run to go for silver. But then I was at the second gate and I thought ‘yes, I just don’t want to do that, I’m just going to do everything I can’. Then there are also errors associated with those risks, but I was the fastest down.”

fear of falling
It almost went wrong for Kampschreur when he rose from the ground. The 23-year-old athlete, who is in his second Olympics, was not upset by it. ,,In a split second I see the blue sky and the tip of my ski instead of the piste. That is a bit of a shock, but after that you have to get back into that focus immediately.”

Kampschreur’s training buddy and competitor Niels de Langen learned a hard lesson four years ago. “Staying standing is key”said the bronze medalist. ,,After the first run I was fourth, that is of no use to you. So I looked for the edge, then all or nothing.”

It became everything for De Langen: ,,Really bizarre, I don’t really realize it yet. This medal symbolizes my growth and the quality that I have unfortunately not been able to show at the Paralympic level before. Until today. Personally, therefore, also a bit of satisfaction, sweet revenge”laughs De Langen.

Sweet revenge, after the deception four years ago. The flag now hangs differently anyway, the two sit skiers also notice. Kampschreur: ,,We were young then, in 2018. Every medal is a celebration. But now we have been world top for a few years, so we are simply expected to be world top at the Games.”

Mental pressure
The ‘experienced men’ had to get used to their new status. Kampschreur even spoke of a ‘mental dip’ immediately after the race. ,,I was not in a good mood yesterday. Then I’ll make it clear that you have to stay away from me and if you don’t, it won’t be a nice conversation.”

De Langen also felt the pressure from outside. ,,Yes, of course we also read the news, and then it is frustrating when the NOS headline yesterday with ‘no medal for the Netherlands yet’. I know that too, I do my best.”

Everything came out on Monday, to the great relief of both Kampschreur and De Langen. ,,It is a relief and hopefully in the long run also a boost for the rest of the team for the coming days. The whole staff was unstoppable after my race. It was just one big party. Finally it worked again. Not finally, but again. We often just have moments when we perform well, but that took a long time now.”

Double celebration for the bosom friends, because there is no question of any animosity. De Langen describes the relationship with Kampschreur as ‘very good, right down to the slopes’. They burst out laughing together. Kampschreur, who has nodded in the affirmative, agrees with his colleague’s position: ,,As long as it’s not me, I hope Niels gets a good result.”