Olympic athletes interviewed Episode 19: Raymon van der Biezen ‘Every small step counts.’

Raymon van der Biezen, Double Olympian outlines the difficult preparation for the London Olympics 2012, when his mother fell sick, and he was in doubt, whether he should compete, or stay back for his mum. How he won the time trial event at the Olympic Games 2012, and what he has learned from 10+ years as a professional athlete.

In this interview we discuss

·      His darkest moment

·      His best moment

·      What advice would he give a younger Raymon van der Biezen

·      What are the habits that make Raymon a successful athlete and person

·      His morning routine 

·      How he prepares for important moments

·      How he overcomes setbacks

·      His role model

·      The best advice you have received and who gave it to him

·      What does a typical training day look like or how did it look like

·      Who he nominates to be interviewed

·      Where can you find Raymon 

Intro: This interview features Raymon van der Biezen. Raymon participated in the Olympic Games 2008 and 2012, amongst his greatest achievements in your career includes a win of the time trial at the 2012 Olympic Games, the European Champs 2010 and 2016 and was in the top 10 ranking in BMX for six consecutive years.

I had the opportunity to support Raymon in the last 7 years of his professional career as a Strength & Conditioning Coach. Raymon ended his career after the European Champs 2016 and is now the assistant coach of the Dutch National BMX team.

Welcome, Raymon.

Raymon: Thanks for the invite.

Raymon’s worst moment

Christian: Raymon, in your life as an athlete, what was your worst moment?

Raymon: Of course we athletes all had injuries and I had a few, but I think my darkest moment was getting 4th in London in 2012. That was a really dark time for me, especially when I came back from London, went back to training and I broke my collarbone at the first training. I was pretty much done, I wanted to hang up my bike and leave it there. For some reason, it was a really big disappointment to get 4th, especially because I had won the time trial in London and I had a really good chance to get a podium and I felt really good. For some reason a fourth-place just didn't feel right. It didn't feel like a win to me.

I had won the time trial in London 2012,  I felt really good and I had a really good chance to get onto the podium. For some reason a fourth-place just didn't feel right. It didn't feel like a win to me.

 So right now I can really say, it was a really good result but I think I was in the position to get a medal at the London 2012 Olympics and so I have mixed feelings about it. But of course, I have some happy feelings about it as well. Before the Olympics I got a really bad injury in the wrist. So I had to recover from that as well. Also, my mum was in the hospital in a really bad situation. So overall, a 4th Place at the Olympics is something to be proud of and I really am proud now, but at that moment it was a really dark moment.

Check out the BMX Supercross event at the London 2012 Olympics

Raymon’s best moment

Christian: What's your best moment?

Raymon: I think my best moment is my last race. Yes, I didn't qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics, and that was also a really big setback at that moment, but for me I couldn't step down from the sport without ending my career with a good last result. So when I knew I didn't qualify for Rio, I went back to Papendal and told myself I have two more races to go, the Dutch Championships and the European Championships, and I just want to give everything I've got.

I couldn't step down from the sport without ending my career with a good last result.

I knew I was not qualified. So let's bring everything I got for the last two races. And just going up to the last race, the European's, I felt better and better every week because at the World Championships it was my last chance to qualify for Rio and I didn't make the semi-final, which I needed to do to qualify. So that was close but I had only just come back on my bike at the World Championships after having broken my wrist in Argentina at the World Cup. So the World Champs was just a little bit too soon for me coming back from injury.

However, the week after the World's I was back in training and I felt better and better every day and going into National Champs. I got 4th place, just next to the podium but two weeks later, we're at the European Champs and I felt even better and for some reason everything fell into the right place and I really liked the track in Verona. I really had good gates in the training sessions and in the racing; all my gates were almost perfect like you'd always hope them to be. You always hope to have those gates but for some reason they almost never happen. In Verona everything fell into place and I felt strong and I wanted to really end my career in a good way.

At my last race everything fell into place, I felt strong and I wanted to really end my career in a good way.

I also had the feeling that because everybody knew it was my last race, the crowd and all the people around me were standing behind me, also pushing me a little bit to make it a really nice last race for myself. So it just felt like everything came together and yes, somehow I managed to get a whole chance and had a really clean lap and finished first. So it was really nice to end of my career that way even though I didn't go to the Olympics in Rio. Also, because I didn't make Rio, it was also mentally tough the first few weeks to go back into training but I also thought it was not the way I wanted to end my career just like that. So I just focused on training like I've always done and it came together.

I just focused on training like I've always done and it came together.

Raymon’s advice to a younger Raymon van der Biezen

Christian: If you could go back in time 10, 15 years, what advice would you give your younger self?

Raymon:  I would say listen carefully to what your coach is saying and this is because I also thought I knew most of the things myself when I was an athlete. But I think if I had listened sooner to my coach in my professional career, I would probably have some better performances on racing days.

I was always training as hard as I can, I was always doing something extra, I wanted to win too badly.

I was always training as hard as I can, which we should do, but I was also doing some extra sets. So I was always doing some extra reps or whatever, because it gave me a really good feeling. But I think, I can say now, it was stupid because at some races I was just too tired to perform really well and the coach he told me a couple of times, “Raymon, you have to slow down and just take some rest." I was listening but it didn't feel right to me so I was just doing more and more. At the end of my career I really took it a little bit slower at some point but in my beginning years I was just, I think, I wanted to win too badly. That's probably the right way to say it. So yes, it was kind of stupid at that point but I think right now I’ve learned from it. That's how it works and I think most of the athletes are a bit stubborn. You are convinced to do more or to do less of what your coach is saying most of the time, especially in my beginning years, sometimes it was hard to just stick to the program, especially for me. So I was always doing more and more. It was stupid at that point. 

Check out the full interview