Speed ​​skater Annette Gerritsen: “No one tells me what my limit is anymore. I determine that myself”

Since Annette Gerritsen (36) stopped professional skating in 2016, a lot has happened. She built a new career as a skating analyst for the NOS, became a mother, but also had a serious car accident. Now her second child is on the way.

“My friend Vincent recently asked: ‘What are your dreams?’” Annette begins. “We were on a weekend break in a hotel in Bergen aan Zee and I had to think about an answer. After a while I said, “Nothing really.” And I meant it, I feel perfectly happy now. We had buffed for three years. The search for a home, miscarriages, recovering from a car accident. But look: everything turned out okay. I’ve always had that confidence. If it doesn’t work one way, then another. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my top sport career, it’s that.”
For thirteen years, Annette’s life revolved around top sport. She belonged to the successful skating generation of Marianne Timmer, Sven Kramer and Ireen Wüst. The latter two are still active at the Winter Games. Yet Annette herself does not miss it, she says. “There is so much tension in such an Olympic year. When you’re comfortable in your own skin and driving well, that’s sometimes nice. But most of the time it’s nerve-wracking.”

Doesn’t it itch when you see Ireen, who is only a year younger, driving in Beijing?

“We started together in Jong Oranje. She is exceptionally good and a real all-round skater, I was a sprinter. At the time, however, sprinting was not yet seen as a specialization, I trained as an all-rounder. My luck was that Marianne Timmer was sitting in front of me; she belonged to the first generation of Dutch people to compete for the prizes in the sprint. I hitched a ride on that. I learned so much from Marianne. We were buddies and had the same personality and technique. We trained hard, but when we had an afternoon off she would take me shopping or for a cup of coffee. “You should also enjoy,” she always said. That’s why I never felt like I had to give up much. I also liked skating too much.”

During the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, you crashed in the 500 meters, your best distance. Was that the biggest disappointment of your career?

“It was double. I was too eager. Good wasn’t good enough. And that while I had a super year: I became Dutch champion in three distances and I qualified for three distances at the Games. I fell in the first outside corner, a technical foul. I lay on the floor and realized: this was my chance at Olympic gold. And now I had nothing. What am I doing? But it helped me to have the right focus in the 1000 meters. It was close to gold, but I’m so proud of that achievement.”

Although she finished second in the World Sprint Championship in 2011, Annette’s career went downhill after that. She had injury after injury, got mononucleosis, there was a lot of hassle in her team.

“It’s a shame I didn’t show more what I could do,” she says. “I was only going backwards while I was training hard. So frustrating. I felt powerless and started asking more and more of myself. I missed someone who said to me: listen to your body. Now I coach young top athletes and tell them that first.”

It wasn’t until the end of 2016 that you took the plunge and stopped. Was that a relief?

“Amazing! I’ve had to rehab every season for the last five years. Once is fine, but five?! In the end I always skated with pain. The cartilage in my knee turned out to be damaged. And cartilage no longer recovers. One doctor said, ‘If you stop now, the knee will still be good enough to live without pain.’”

Did you have any idea what you wanted to do after skating?

“I never thought about that. The only thing I wanted was to go on holiday with a camper. Enjoy nature. Vincent wanted that too. We bought one and went to Italy and France. For a while I still felt guilty, my body was so used to training. I really had to kick the habit. But after two months I was already pregnant. Because of the physical changes I didn’t have the energy to train. It was such a relief to realize: I can’t do anything now. The pressure was gone. Delicious. I could do new things. Because as a skater I often made films behind the scenes, I followed Ireen with the camera for a year. I was also allowed to analyze skating for the NOS. So much happened that there was no question of a black hole.”

In the fall of 2017, daughter Abbey was born. A new phase in your life has begun.

“The dynamics of normal life are so different,” says Annette. “It is a life without high peaks and deep troughs as in top sport. It ripples. Even though I enjoy being a mother, it took me a few years to find my feet.”

Your parents were very involved in your skating career, how is it now?

“They were always there for me and often went to big tournaments, just like my brother and sister. My father kept track of times in the stands, my mother looked after me. We were all skating mad. I lived at home until I was twenty-four because I liked it so much. Now my parents live close by and often babysit. They really like that.”

What do you take from their upbringing to your own children?

“My parents have always given me freedom in my choices and never pushed me. They embraced what we did as children. They were involved, but never in an annoying way. When a match didn’t go the way I had hoped, my mother would say, “You can’t do more than your best.” My father, with his numbers, always saw something positive. “It’s a shame, but you had the fastest opening.” They are an example of that.”

When were you happier: then or now?

“I am very happy now. I really like that life no longer revolves around me and my agenda. We are a real family. I can do things side by side: being a mother, working and exercising. And I have time for a social life with friends. While top sport took up all my time and I often lived in a bubble. It just doesn’t mean that everything will go smoothly now. We have had a few tough years.”

Annette is now five months pregnant, but had wanted a second child much earlier, she says.

“I’ve had a few miscarriages. It was hard to deal with that. You have to keep faith that it will be okay, but it is also very sad. By talking about it with people around me I discovered that a lot of women experience this. That was supportive. We have also been looking for a new house for a long time. Anyone who has bought a house in recent years knows how much stress this entails. We’ve seen twenty houses, each time we outbid and each time we missed. We became discouraged. Fortunately, we now have a nice home.”

And then there was that car accident, at the end of 2019.

“I was on my way to Papendal where I would give a workshop. Everyone suddenly stopped on an exit, I could just brake. In my rear-view mirror I saw a car approaching at great speed. The driver was behind me at eighty kilometers per hour. She hadn’t noticed that we were standing still. I had whiplash, which I suffered a lot from. I was also in bad shape mentally. I didn’t want to get in the car anymore, I was behind the wheel with sweat in my hands. I eventually got over that trauma with EMDR. Thanks to my contacts from the sports world, I have also recovered physically. The physiotherapist said: ‘Fortunately, you know better than anyone what rehabilitation is.’ I knew it would take months, but also that every step forward is one closer to recovery.”

What do you learn from such a period?

“That health is the most important thing. And it is what you make of it. Every morning there was a smiling daughter standing next to my bed and that gave me so much strength. I also learned to respect my limits. If I had a headache after an hour of work, I would rest for an hour. As a top athlete I always went beyond my limits, especially after injuries. Broken? Get on! No one tells me what my limit is anymore. I determine that myself.”

Did you come out stronger?

“Everything seems to be falling into place now, but I also know that this is temporary. There comes a time for new choices and then things will be fine again. I’m never really afraid of that. I learn every day and continue to develop myself; first as a top athlete, now as a person. I’m not going to give up, I’m going to get started. Because it never happens by itself. But for the first time since I stopped, I have the feeling that there is peace and that I have everything under control. So nice.”

Styling: Liselotte Admiral. † Hair and makeup: Mike Beijer. † mmv I am (wool sweater and pants), Orelia (ring with stone), Sif Jakobs (rings), s.Oliver (corduroy suit), LingaDore (Swimsuit), Tamaris (boots, sneakers)