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Four Times Gold From Leiden!
Leidsch Dagblad (Dutch regional newspaper)
August 21, 2008
BEIJING - A rostrum full of women jumping up and down arm in arm with
exhausted faces and sweaty bodies: the water polo ladies celebrate their
gold medal with the inevitable company of Willem Alexander and Erica
Terpstra. Equally inevitable are the tunes from "We Are The Champions."
After a tribute in the packed, beer-stinking Holland House, Iefke van Belkum
and Biurakn Hakhverdian catch their breaths backstage. Not with a glass of
beer, but with coke. Diet. They look beaten. But the gold medal around their
necks dissolves the fatigue into a wave of euphoria. They talk about dreams
that come true; about dimes tipped on their sides; about luck and assertion.
"We knew beforehand that we had the ability to win against anyone," says
Hakhverdian from Leiden who plays for Polar Bears. "But we also knew that we
could lose just the same. It was a real toss-up."
Van Belkum, a ZVL-player (Swimming Foundation Leiden), nods. "A few weeks
ago we were fifth in the European Championships. And now we are Olympic
champions. Strange, really. But during the Europeans our minds were on the
Olympics. We continued to train very hard and committed ourselves. Of course
we wanted to win the Europeans, but at the end of the day everything
revolved around the Olympic Games."
Leidsch Dagblad (Dutch regional newspaper)
August 21, 2008
BEIJING - A rostrum full of women jumping up and down arm in arm with
exhausted faces and sweaty bodies: the water polo ladies celebrate their
gold medal with the inevitable company of Willem Alexander and Erica
Terpstra. Equally inevitable are the tunes from "We Are The Champions."
After a tribute in the packed, beer-stinking Holland House, Iefke van Belkum
and Biurakn Hakhverdian catch their breaths backstage. Not with a glass of
beer, but with coke. Diet. They look beaten. But the gold medal around their
necks dissolves the fatigue into a wave of euphoria. They talk about dreams
that come true; about dimes tipped on their sides; about luck and assertion.
"We knew beforehand that we had the ability to win against anyone," says
Hakhverdian from Leiden who plays for Polar Bears. "But we also knew that we
could lose just the same. It was a real toss-up."
Van Belkum, a ZVL-player (Swimming Foundation Leiden), nods. "A few weeks
ago we were fifth in the European Championships. And now we are Olympic
champions. Strange, really. But during the Europeans our minds were on the
Olympics. We continued to train very hard and committed ourselves. Of course
we wanted to win the Europeans, but at the end of the day everything
revolved around the Olympic Games."