Everyone is clapping. Harrie Lavreysen is clapping, Jeffrey Hoogland and Roy van den Berg are clapping. And in the middle zone, everything that is orange is running into each other’s arms. The Dutch track cyclists are Olympic champions in the team sprint. And how.
Van den Berg, Jeffrey Hoogland and Lavreysen are once again the best in Paris. In the semi-final they set a world record (41.191 seconds), in the final they were able to do it two tenths faster: 40.949, an average of 65.9 kilometres per hour. Their rival in the final, Great Britain, is relegated. It is absolute force majeure.
a dynasty
Tuesday’s team sprint gold is a unique Olympic salute from one of the greatest teams the Netherlands has ever known. A dynasty, as they are called in the sports-mad United States, the word that perhaps best describes how dominant the Netherlands has been in recent years. Three years ago they claimed Olympic gold in Tokyo. And in the past six years they have become five-time world champions (once narrowly beaten by Australia).
The fact that the Netherlands can win seemed almost normal for years. No country is better than forty seconds against the clock, seconds divided between three riders. Van den Berg as a starter, Lavreysen for the second round and Hoogland, who runs only the last lap in third place. It is a unique sequence for the sport.
Until Tokyo, the line was always going up. But as with any collaboration, the relationship changed after a few years. Roy van den Berg was injured and, although Lavreysen continued after Tokyo, Hoogland had to break free. For a while, he consciously did less, built a house and slowed down the pace.
Last year, in Glasgow, during the World Championships where the world title was “normally” won, the discontent came to light for the first time. Hoogland, partly affected by the constant losses in training, also grew tired of the fact that, through Lavreysen’s intervention, former national coach Hugo Haak returned to the sprint team, while he was doing well under coach Mehdi Kordi.
The waves softened
These were the waves that smoothed out after Glasgow to focus one more year on the part that made them so successful. Professionalism above all, for what will probably be one last time. But somehow the team sprint final in Paris also seemed like the end point of a great project. Will Van den Berg (35) continue? Will Hoogland (31) still be able to find motivation?
Not that the tournament is ready for the trio after Tuesday night. Lavreysen wants two more gold medals, in sprint and keirin. Hoogland is also competing in those events, but knows his chances there are much less good.
There is also a World Championship in Copenhagen in October. The trio can once again demonstrate their best form there. But on Tuesday, a highly successful Olympic golden era probably came to an end.
In Paris it was clear from the start that the Netherlands had by far the better team. In qualifying on Monday, the Netherlands set an Olympic record. The best thing for morale was the lead of almost six-tenths over Great Britain and eight-tenths over the anticipated biggest competitor, Australia. In a sport where hundredths of a second matter, that is a truly huge gap.
On Tuesday afternoon, the sprinters will take another step forward. The two world records show that they did everything right in preparation. The project was a success. Kordi is freaking out with joy, Haak covers his mouth with his hands in disbelief. It couldn’t be better.
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