The Comeback of a Lifetime

Thomas Van Der Plaetsen celebrating his golden victory (Photo: Regina Valeeva)

KAZAN – August 2012. The whole sports world is living the Olympics. Every athlete that needs to be there is there. Except for Thomas Van Der Plaetsen, a Belgian competitor in decathlon. In full preparation for London 2012, he got badly injured. Instead of living the dream, he is going through a nightmare. However, giving up was never an option. He fought back and one year later proves that hard work does pay off.

All smiles with the first gold for Belgium in KazanIt reads almost like a fairytale. In the spring of 2012, Thomas Van Der Plaetsen, a 22-year-old decathlete from Deinze, Belgium worked very hard to be at his top level for the Olympics in London. Besides the full support of his family and friends, he could also count on the whole community of his hometown. By organizing a benefit dinner, the community provided him the opportunity to finance the travel. And as if it was too good to be true, Thomas got injured and was not able to compete in London. Before even having the opportunity of defending his chances, the Olympic dream was shattered into pieces.

Today, one year later, Thomas proves that his ambition back then was right in place. At the Summer Universiade in Kazan, he won the decathlon competition with a score of 8,164 points. “I’m exhausted, it was a really tough competition and I had two long days,” says the winner of the gold medal. Especially the weather conditions were hard, from a heat in the morning to rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Nonetheless, Thomas managed to compete at a high level and was able to secure his ticket for the upcoming IAAF World Championships, which was also his goal. “I’m satisfied with my performance, especially because I was out for a long time and only just got back in competition,” the Universiade champion commented.

Even though he was the one keeping Russia from winning another gold medal, he felt like the Russian audience was really with him. He also got the support from the other Belgian athletes. On top of this, there is always the presence of his family. His brother Michael, who is also his coach, and his sister Helena came with him to Kazan.

Without a doubt, this young Belgian has a bright future in decathlon. It may be a slow and steady process; the fact that this is indeed his first big tournament after his injury is promising for everything else that is coming. 

Lien Cypers (BEL), FISU Young Reporter