It seemed as if the nerves had no hold on her. High jumper Britt Weerman from Assen (19) was definitely nervous during the European Championship final, but she still won a historic silver medal. Apparently she needs excitement, or so she suspects herself.
In her still short career she was often called a cool frog and as such she also jumped during the European Championship finals. Smooth as a snake she slid over 1.80 meters, 1.86, 1.91, 194 and even over 1.96 in one go. The latter meant equaling her own national record.
In the meantime, she saw six of the seven co-finalists die. Two at 1.91 meters, one at 1.94 and three at 1.96 meters. “I do watch their jumps because I find that interesting myself and I need to know how the competition works,” says Weerman himself. “But I don’t care about them that much. If someone makes it, I don’t think: ‘Now I have to too’. Then I keep to myself.”
Satisfied
Her three attempts to jump over 1.98 did not succeed, but Weerman was satisfied with that too. “I was not super far away from it and I think that height will be there soon.” Visibly happy, but hardly exuberant, she celebrated her success after top favorite Yaroslava Mayuchich from Ukraine was the only one to jump over 1.98. She draped the Dutch flag around her shoulders somewhat awkwardly and smiled a little shyly towards the many photographers. Also on the podium, next to two Ukrainian women, this lady from Drenthe did not jump for joy. “I am humble and down-to-earth. And never so exuberant.”
Her coach Sybout Wijma is also such a quiet northerner. But after his pupil’s historic achievement, he was undeniably elated in the catacombs of the Ataköy Arena. From the stands he had assisted Weerman as best he could by watching her jumps in slow motion on a screen before giving instructions.
To dare
“She will get it sometime,” Wijma also says about the height of 1.98. “You have to dare to rise first and only then want to cross that bar.” According to her coach, Weerman’s limited height (1.74 meters) should not be an obstacle to breaking the magical limit of two meters in the future. The two Dutch pioneers also learned this during a recent internship with the Swedish top trainer Yannick Tregaro, who led Kajsa Bergqvist to many prizes and a personal best of 2.06 meters more than twenty years ago. Wijma: “And Bergqvist is also only 1.75 tall.”
According to Wijma, Weertman owes her grace to her gymnastics past. She excelled at that sport until she was twelve, but then an elbow injury put an end to her dreams in that field. The sport of athletics will most likely take her further than she could ever get within gymnastics.
Important medal
After a fourth place at the European Outdoor Championships in 2022, she now has her first important medal. This thanks to many physical qualities, but according to coach Wijma ‘the mental component’ is also of the utmost importance. “If she really has to, she can find the right rhythm very well.”
Weerman ends a long period in which the Netherlands barely counted in the high jump. Annemieke Bouma was the last to win a medal at the European Indoor Championships. That was bronze in 1975. For the time being, the 19-year-old batter from Assen has modest ambitions. She would like to win a medal at the European Under-23 Championship in Finland next summer. After that, the World Championships for seniors in Budapest are on the program. She has now been qualified for this via the ranking of World Atlectics, but she is not yet shouting from the rooftops that she can also win prizes in that global title fight. She just isn’t put together that way.