Paris 2024 | Bronze Simon van Dorp secretly disappointed about missing out on gold in single sculls – “That’s what I was going for”

Van Dorp was still very disappointed after his race that he didn’t win gold. “I went for gold, but I had promised myself that I would go for it no matter what. If I blew myself up, I had to accept that. And that’s what happened.”

Paris 2024 | Simon van Dorp rows to bronze – A total of eight medals on the rowing course

Van Dorp was unable to accelerate in the final phase for a gold medal. “It still needs to sink in. I’m definitely annoyed that I blew myself up, but at the same time I left the race the way I wanted to leave. In the end I just couldn’t shift up enough. My arms were full of acid and I just couldn’t shift up. Apparently the rest could, so maybe I’ll be lucky to get a medal.”

Delay

Van Dorp’s race was postponed by an hour on Saturday, due to an unusual problem. One of the rowers was stuck in traffic with his team bus, but the others apparently did not hear that very far in advance.

Paris 2024 | Simon van Dorp does what he has to do – through to the final

“I had just got my boat in the water, but my coaches knew it might be postponed,” says Van Dorp. “They already told me to take a little more time. We literally got the call when we were about to go into the water. Tim Brys and Stefanos Douskos were already on the water and the rest were just getting on the water. Then we could go back and start the routine again.”

Yauheni Zalaty

The Russian number two eventually arrived in time to start. “I think it’s great of Yauheni Zalaty (the silver medalist) to get through it. He got stuck on the highway with his bus on the way here. That’s why we were delayed by an hour. I think that was tough for everyone. You’re quite confused with your warm-up then, but I think we as a team handled it quite well. Only we weren’t the only ones.”

Paris 2024 | Simon van Dorp also easily reaches semi-finals in the skiff

Still, Van Dorp didn’t mind the postponement very much. “I thought it was perfect. It was the same for everyone and everyone has to deal with that of course. In a way, it’s also an opportunity, because there’s always someone who might find it harder than someone else. You just have to make sure you stay calm and deal with it the best you can. We put on some music and we carried on.”