The world of athlete Cathelijn Peeters was completely upside down last summer. She became Olympic champion for the first time in her life on 3 August and later also took a silver medal in Paris. Pretty soon after her season came to an end and the search for new motivation was. The specialist found it on the 400 meters and the 400 meters hurdles only fairly late, but this weekend a new highlight must follow at the European Athletics Indoor Athletics.
Cathelijn Peeters says he can still leave the street, but from this summer it has to stop more often for a chat. “In my hometown Den Bosch I am sometimes addressed from ‘Hey you are still Olympic champion’. Of course that is very nice. Even on the plane I was recognized by my neighbor once.”
It is the result of the fact that Peeters became a fairly unexpected Olympic champion on 3 August. Because of her role in the semi -final on the mixed relay (4×400 meters) – in which she ran as a final runner instead of Femke Bol who got peace – she was allowed to communicate in the party joy a day later when her teammates took gold in the final. Later she also took silver on the relay (4×400 meters) in the women. This was followed by tributes and Peeters soon noticed that the pipe was empty.
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“After the Olympic Games we would continue with some matches. But that really didn’t go for a meter. I was mentally just finished. We decided that I should go on vacation and train again if I felt like it.”
But after 5.5 weeks the conclusion was that she still didn’t feel like putting on the running shoes. “I started again, but in November I noticed that the full motivation was back. I just had to accept that not every training went well and that I was not in shape.”
The European Indoor Athletics Championship
The EK Indoor Athletics Indoor will be held in Apeldoorn from 6 to 9 March. It is the third time after 1973 and 1983 that the prestigious tournament has been held in the Netherlands. Cathelijn Peeters could come into action on the mixed relay for the first time on Thursday evening, but it is expected that she will appear on the track for the first time on Friday in the individual 400 meters.
There is now that form – at the end of February Peeters ran a personal record in the 400 meters during the NK – and now she wants to flame at the European Athletics Indoor Athletics Championships. A tournament that was only held in the Netherlands twice before. “On the relay we mainly want to defend the European Championship title,” says the athlete of athletics club Prince Hendrik in Vught. “And individually I hope to take the next step. I want to get into that final. Something that did not work in Paris.”
And then the focus goes back on the outdoor season. With a slanted eye on the Olympic Games in four years? “That is looking very far ahead,” says Peeters. “Three years ago I wasn’t even a top athlete yet. As long as I keep going, I like it. But I don’t dare to say how that will be in four years.”
