In Klazienaveen she has collected a lot of cups and sweaters over the years. She won her first cup in the category for girls aged four and five. She is now also a three-time Dutch champion and when she was nine, she won bronze at the world championship in Azerbaijan. A year later she took the world title in Zolder, Belgium. She has no brothers and sisters, which makes it easier for her parents to travel with her. It is also a great hobby for them.
“Azerbaijan, Latvia, France, Germany, Belgium”, father Jan sums up. “It takes a lot of free time. We also fill in our vacation days with Lieke’s BMX competitions. So there is hardly any normal vacation left.”
Since the sport became Olympic in 2008, it all had to get a little cooler and more spectacular. For example, there was a starting hill of eight meters high instead of five meters and the jumping bumps also became higher and longer. Although Van der Aa does not have to start from an eight-meter hill until she is sixteen, we are now going to take a closer look.
“It’s high and there’s wind now, so scary,” she describes her feeling. Yet she wants to do everything she can to be there by her junior time.
If everything goes according to plan, she could also move on to an internal place at Papendal around that age. But that’s in the future for now.
“If she continues this line, she can certainly move on to Papendal and she can show beautiful things. But it is up to her to realize that,” concludes Heijne. He will also conclude his career as a trainer in the BMX sport next summer, after twelve years.