Who will receive the Jaap Eden trophy? It is named after the star that was way ahead of its time

Had he lived 125 years later, he would surely have been one of the stars of Dutch sports on social media like Instagram and TikTok. While Pim Mulier is generally regarded as the founder of Dutch sport, Jaap Eden is known as the very first Dutch sporting hero.

A star in all facets of his existence, a stubborn idol who was more than a century ahead of his time.

The choice of Jacobus Johannes Eden (Groningen, 19 October 1873 – Haarlem, 2 February 1925) as the namesake of the trophy that has belonged to the Sportsman of the Year since 1972, is the posthumous appreciation for an athlete who already has the tram steam spoke for itself. In and out of the arena.

His qualities as the first football player of HFC Haarlem and later an internationally known figure skater and cyclist were beyond question. At the same time, Eden was a man who combined award winning with a lifestyle that often loosened his tongue.

Mulier, of all people, publicly warned Eden in 1894 of her exuberant lifestyle, which she felt was not always consistent with existence as a top athlete. It was the year after the Groningen native had been crowned all-around world champion behind the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam almost from scratch, as winner of the then so-called “Mastery of the World”. He has won the award a total of three times.

“Jaap has trained well, but he doesn’t live quietly enough and constantly has a colossal cigar in his mouth. He also has to give up cycling after September and take complete rest for a few weeks before starting his ‘winter campaign’. If he doesn’t , then Jaap will begin to lose strength in about three years.”

1894, in the historiography of Dutch sport, is above all the year in which the three-time world champion of Hamar refused to become European champion in the name of love. On Norway’s natural ice, Eden refused to start in the 500m, presumably because he said the wind was too strong. In fact (so goes the story, which is just too good to determine the truth) he was having an affair with a waitress at the famous Victoria Hotel.

This Frederika Norseng, daughter of Norwegian skater Olaf Norseng, allegedly seduced Eden in his hotel room and thus kept him out of competition for both the 500m and 10,000m. And this while the Dutchman had nothing to complain about the lack of form at the time. After her amorous adventure, Eden tied the shoes at the bottom of the five kilometers and immediately set a world record that would last an impressive seventeen years.

Eden’s legs (as a cyclist, also world sprint track champion and two-time national road champion) ultimately proved not strong enough to carry the wealth. Although he would have earned the astronomical sum of 40,000 guilders a year in his heyday, he ended up penniless. The temptations of Parisian nightlife and then alcohol proved irresistible.

Completely in the spirit of sportsman Eden, the Netherlands appears to be a country of skaters and cyclists during the annual election of sportsman and sportswoman of the year. Although the awards have been presented to the best athletes of the year since 1951, the Jaap Eden Trophy has only officially existed since 1972.

Ard Schenk is the first sportsman to receive the gem named after Eden half a century ago. After him, the award went to other skaters in eleven of the cases.

Cyclists have proven to be the most successful athletes over the past fifty years. They lead the Jaap Eden Trophy winners list, although for the sake of completeness it should be said that cyclo-cross and track cycling also fall into that category.

With five elections, representatives from gymnastics and swimming follow at arm’s length. Four times a footballer has won awards. Johan Cruijff (1973, 1974), Ruud Gullit (1987) and Arjen Robben (2014) are therefore the only team athletes to receive the individual sports trophy.

Three times a judoka was honored to be awarded the Jaap Eden, twice a boxer and a motor racer were chosen. Max Verstappen is the only motorized athlete to win awards in the long list of champions. Twice, even.

A winner has emerged from short track, tennis and windsurfing.

Ard Schenk and Epke Zonderland have the most statues in their trophy case. The Ice Apollo and the Flying Doctor have been named best sportsmen in the country four times. Pieter van den Hoogenband has to be content with “only” three Jaap Eden awards.

After half a century, the women’s list is led by female cyclists, good for fourteen elections. Nine times a swimmer has won, eight times an athlete has won prizes. With six times a major prize, women’s skating is about stark in comparison. Gymnastics (three times), judo and table tennis (twice) and figure skating, equestrian sports, tennis, snowboarding and short track with a Jaap Eden each complete the list.

Ironically, such elections were never given to Eden. He died at the age of 51, needy and insolvent. Eden paid the price for his fame. Already then.