Rachel Clammer, Triathlon: I had already signed for 2nd and 4th

On the night from Friday to Saturday, Klammer competed in the mixed team triathlon relay with Maya Kingma, Jurick van Igdom and Marco van der Stel. Great Britain won the gold, the United States won the silver, and France won the bronze. The Dutch team crossed the finish line, half a minute behind the French.

troubled preparation

while broadcasting RadiOlympia Klamer looked at her performance in the games in conversation with presenters Tom van ‘t Hek and Toine van Peperstraten. “I’ve been in the 4th place already,” says Clamer, 30, from Olympic Village. “I’m very satisfied. I think the rest of the team is too.” “After the 2016 Olympics (where Clamer finished 10th), my goal was to get the podium in Tokyo. Maybe that was too ambitious, but I thought: The sky is the limit. “

Clamer’s preparations for the Tokyo Games have been very turbulent. “A little over a year ago my mother passed away and then my husband, who is also my training partner, had heart problems. He had surgery a few weeks ago. At the beginning of the year I was injured too. I did everything in the past weeks before I could rule out Games for a while. I started looking for the perfect conditions for myself and that meant leaving home. That was hard because I tended to stay with my husband. But to get a medal or anyway, to achieve the highest rank, I had to take steps.”

Olympic feeling

Those top rankings came in fourth place. “I surprised myself in a positive way. Even a few months ago I doubted if I really belonged to that level. I had a bad year, but you learned to deal with that at some point. Turn the switch, I can’t get there. I knew that everything He must fall properly to get a medal.”

Clamer was in Tokyo for the third time at the Olympics. “It took a while before I got the Olympic feeling. In fact, just when I got to the Olympic Village. I told my husband that I didn’t feel like I was going to the Games. There was still time for the other two sessions and a media moment in Holland and I visited the sponsors.

I am glad that the Olympic feeling arose in the village. The atmosphere here was good and we had more freedom than I expected. I can even go for a run. I don’t think we can complain,” said Klammer, who is on a hiatus in the Netherlands. I will do nothing for a month and then I will start competing again in September.