Judoka Sanne van Dijke from Heeswijk Dinther took some time after the Olympics to look back on her career. “I have won bronze at the Games and bronze at the World Cup and I am European champion twice. I have actually achieved everything I wanted. However, I have started to set new goals, because there are still two titles missing. Before I stop I want to becoming an Olympic champion and a world champion.”
As far as she is concerned, one of those two goals will already become reality next week at the World Cup in Tashkent. As number 2 in the world ranking in the class up to 70 kilograms, Van Dijke is a candidate for gold. “It would be nice if this title comes in the bag and I certainly have that chance. I’m fit and in the shape of my life. I just feel it’s possible.”
The 27-year-old judoka has worked hard in recent months on her weak point in judo. She can score like no other, but in the past she was sometimes tempted into passivity by the opponent. Resulting in unnecessary defeats. Under her new coach Bas Meerveld she has trained on tactics, gaskets and a higher speed of action.
“If you go judo against me, the chance that you will win is not so great.”
“If you go judo against me, there is not much chance that you will win, but if you disrupt my game, you can beat me. I can score well, but I need quite a lot of preparation time to put myself in a position for a good throw, which sometimes took too long and then I got a penalty for passivity.
To become that faster acting judoka, Van Dijke started training twice a week with the men. “With the men it goes faster and faster and I am more likely to be punished if I do something wrong. This is not the case with the women and that makes sense, because I am one of the best female judokas in the world. training with the men allowed me to make bigger strides.
“I would like to graduate this year as a social studies teacher. I am now doing an internship and standing in front of the class for two days.”
Van Dijke thinks she will devote her life to judo for another five years, but she is already working on her future after the sport. “I would like to graduate this year as a social studies teacher. That would be a good timing, because then I can fully focus on the Olympic Games in Paris from next year. I am now doing an internship and standing in front of the class for two days. and I get energy from it, but I had to find my way in. I went from four to three competition training sessions a week and then you have to keep the confidence that you have done enough work. someone who does not rely on his talent, but on hard work, going deep and always doing more than another.
Van Dijke will play on Monday October 10 at the World Cup in the capital of Uzbekistan.