Stephan Brandhorst’s sports moment: a boost from an Olympic champion

In the run-up to the Olympics I made the series ‘Success at the Games’. It focused on athletes who have had success and athletes who wanted to be successful. I had received Jan’s number from a colleague, after which I tried to call him at the end of May. I received an app in half Dutch-half Spanish. I knew immediately that it was a striking personality I was dealing with.

Once I was on the line with Wienese, that image was confirmed even more. I wanted to make an appointment for a month later, whereupon I was immediately asked: “Can’t it be earlier?” We immediately followed through and the following Friday we scheduled an interview with rowing club De Amstel.

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On that Friday we arrived at De Amstel. It was already sweltering hot by 10am and Wienese wondered why the hell I was parking so far away. “I always just put it here in front of the door. Then you don’t have to pay,” said Wienese, who had brought a bag full of stuff.

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It was also his birthday, by the way, but he really didn’t want to know much about it. In the bag were two boxes, one green and one orange, which he then put on the table demonstratively: “Choose which one you want”, Wienese said abruptly. I knew the gold medal had to be in one of those classic boxes. I chose the orange one hoping the medal was in it. “Ha, just the right one!” I thought: bite. Wienese laughed out loud and said, “These are the real ones.”

What turned out? In that box were some real Cuban cigars. “With label and brought from Cuba”, Wienese said proudly. He seemed more proud of that than the contents of the other box that contained the gold plaque. “These are for you,” Wienese offered the two cigars. I wasn’t sure what to say as I’d never smoked one before and thought it was rude to turn it down. “Let’s go film first, Jan”, I said to change the subject right away.

Already slightly sweaty because of the heat and the lack of a cooling wind, we took a seat for the interview in the basement where the boats were. Each entry in the series started with a short introduction from the athlete himself. “I’m Jan Wienese, 1 meter 78, 80 kilos, gold on the skiff in Mexico in 1968 and you won’t get my bank account.”

That was his introduction to which I asked, “Shall we do it again, but a little shorter?” Jan had to laugh and ended up with “And you won’t get my bank account.” It was clear that Wienese wanted to talk about everything except his age.

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At De Amstel I heard wonderful stories about rowing. The Solitair II with which Wienese won gold still adorns the roof of the De Amstel building. Beautiful to see, but Wienese believes it all. “It does have some yes, that medal. And yes, I was fed up with the boat at one point.”

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Wienese, who – despite his age of 79 – still rows three times a week, then took me to the Bosbaan. He also had a special parking space there for his Mercedes. Wienese kept an eagle eye on everyone. The 1968 Olympic champion tipped someone off because he wasn’t carrying the boat properly and once out on the water, he found that a “bunch of amateurs” were getting in his way way too much. I was also briefly scolded for not having warned him of possible danger. It was nice to see how energetic and passionate he was.

By now we had reached the end of our shooting day and we were both standing in the parking lot with sweat on our backs. Jan was suddenly gone and a little later he drove up with his Mercedes. “You forgot something,” he said with a big smile on his face. “Your cigars!” He immediately took two out and because I liked it so much I decided to take one. “Jan, I don’t smoke, I have to be honest”, whereupon he looked stunned. “Then you pass it on to a friend or you keep it.” And I thought that was such a nice thought that I took the cigar with me and still have it in my display case. After all, it’s not every day that you get a cigar from an Olympic champion.