Koen Verweij puts an end to skating career: ‘I look back with a smile’ | To skate

“From an early age my life has been dominated by high-level sports,” says Verweij. “Then it is not easy to put an end to your career. At the same time, I am someone who always tries to be realistic and then I have to conclude that I can no longer be the top athlete I want to be. Medical examinations have shown that my body, especially my back, just can’t handle it anymore. I’m also not someone who just goes for bacon and beans, because I like to drive in circles. When I’m at the start, I want to compete for medals and preferably break boundaries. Now that that is no longer possible, I have one option left: to stop.”

Verweij had an eventful career, in which it was never boring. In 2014 he had his most successful year. The North Hollander then won, among other things, the world title all-round plus Olympic gold in the team pursuit. Not much later, he took a two-year sabbatical. Verweij then returned to the ice and together with Jutta Leerdam he founded Team Worldstream-Corendon.

‘Don’t retell’

“Setting up a successful team in the middle of the corona pandemic, not many skaters can tell us that,” said Verweij. “Because in recent years I was mainly concerned with the business side, I could no longer bring what I hoped for in the sporting field. Well, a goodbye like this suits me too. I have never taken the easy road and look back on the time behind me with a smile.”