It really sounds like him to just build his own website. He's an unusual guy and a fantastic and well-deserved champion.
A bit of background for those unfamiliar with speed skating: the field is completely dominated by Dutch skaters. Last Friday, Netherland was 3rd in the number of medals (since overtaken by the US, I just noticed), and all of them are for speed skating. I don't think there's any country where speed skating has so professionalised as here. And that's what Nils van der Poel had to go up against, on his own.
From what I understand, he and silver medalist Patrick Roest are long-time rivals, even during youth championships often coming first and second. Van der Poel came in second a lot, quit skating twice, and if the Dutch media is to be believed, rejoined the Swedish army in the toughest unit they have, in order to mentally train himself to be able to do the physical training necessary to win. After he left the army, his physical training was extreme. I don't know much about top sports, but Dutch top skaters seem to be in awe of his training regimen.
The guy's a legend. Shame he's quitting skating. I wonder if he'll be back. Or he's just going to excel at something else. It sounds to me like he honed himself to the point he can succeed at anything he puts his mind to.
Nils van der Poel (25) registered four years ago for the toughest military training there is in Sweden. It was part of his master plan to become the best long-distance skater in the world
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To keep up with the demanding regime, Van der Poel alternates his training sessions with fun things. Skydiving, in his case. In the summer he moves to Västerås airbase and takes up residence in one of the barracks of the local Flygklubb. There he builds himself a tree house, eight meters high. He has no fixed place of residence or residence. His mail is delivered to the yellow house on Staafsgatan in Trollhättan, where he grew up and where his father still lives. He also lives out of a bag.
His friends from the parachute club in Västerås, 300 kilometers away, may get a call from him; whether he can come over that evening, and whether he can stay the night. Then he cycles there, eats hamburgers and drinks a beer with his mates, before cycling back to Trollhättan the next day. “Nils is always himself,” says Mikael Helgesson, one of his buddies at the club. "He's nice and sociable, says what he thinks without offending anyone." Helgesson thinks that skydiving is an outlet for Van der Poel. “When you jump, you can't think of anything else for a while. You leave the world behind, escape from the daily grind. I think that's exactly what he was looking for.”
Understandable; his last name is Dutch, and he skates really fast. But he's definitely Swedish. His Dutch grandfather traveled a lot and eventually settled in Sweden, where he married a Hungarian.
A bit of background for those unfamiliar with speed skating: the field is completely dominated by Dutch skaters. Last Friday, Netherland was 3rd in the number of medals (since overtaken by the US, I just noticed), and all of them are for speed skating. I don't think there's any country where speed skating has so professionalised as here. And that's what Nils van der Poel had to go up against, on his own.
From what I understand, he and silver medalist Patrick Roest are long-time rivals, even during youth championships often coming first and second. Van der Poel came in second a lot, quit skating twice, and if the Dutch media is to be believed, rejoined the Swedish army in the toughest unit they have, in order to mentally train himself to be able to do the physical training necessary to win. After he left the army, his physical training was extreme. I don't know much about top sports, but Dutch top skaters seem to be in awe of his training regimen.
The guy's a legend. Shame he's quitting skating. I wonder if he'll be back. Or he's just going to excel at something else. It sounds to me like he honed himself to the point he can succeed at anything he puts his mind to.