“I skated for the Region for two years. I had the time of my life here. Learned a lot and, above all, developed myself personally, matured. I stayed true to myself and found out what suits me. This also involved a bit of independence, because there are fewer people around you than with a commercial team. Now I think I have grown far enough for the next step,” says the 21-year-old skater.
“I really don’t know where I’m going. I have just finished the National Championships and can go to the World Cup. I want to focus fully on that tournament first. After that I might approach teams or they might do that to me. I have no idea how that works,” says Grevelt, who, unlike most podium candidates at the National Championships, has no management behind her. Although it may be expected that the Dutch Sprint champion can find accommodation with a top team, Grevelt is also aware that this is not a given. “It has already become apparent in the past that it is always difficult for Dutch sprint women to get a place, we will see.”
In any case, she has done herself a good service with the gold at the Daikin NK Sprint. After the first day she was already in the lead and showed that she was relaxed towards the final day. “Today I indeed wanted to keep the nerves away for as long as possible, but after the 500 meters I definitely felt them. I had trouble with that. Especially when I saw that Marrit was driving such a good time for me. She created extra tension.” Fledderus clocked 1.15.08, making him half a second faster than Grevelt had been on Saturday. “I thought: It’s not going to work. But I corrected myself, I shouldn’t think like that when I was in such a good position. When I heard the starting gun I went for it. Actually, I can’t remember how I skated anymore.”
What Grevelt does have clearly in mind is the scoreboard in Thialf. “I always secretly look at that board during my race and saw red numbers next to my name after my first lap. You’re not going to mean this? But I have a very good final round, I trusted that. I was able to join Dione’s (Voskamp) slipstream for a while. I kept skating hard with my hands behind my back and then I saw that the numbers were green. I was very happy.”
Marrit Fledderus briefly hoped for the title
Before the tournament, Marrit Fledderus was the big favorite with Grevelt. The sprint tournament also turned into a match between the women, where Fledderus fell short due to a poor first day. “On Saturday I wondered if I could even ride a 1000 meters, because that 1.16.4 was very bad. Technically I didn’t drive well. This morning I sat with Gerard (van Velde) and Dennis (van der Gun) and looked back at the images to see what I could do better. I was able to convert the frustration into positive energy. After my 1000 meters I sat on the bench in full tension, if Isabel had run the same time as on Saturday I could have won. Unfortunately it was just not enough for the Dutch title. Very sorry.