Lieke Wevers experienced burnout after Rio and had to take 2018 off to recover.
She returned to competition this month at the FIT challenge where posted an impressive 52.198 in the all-around and helped the Dutch team to win the senior competition. She is competing at the Dutch Championships this week and hopes to make the Worlds team later this year.
She talked to The Force is Grace about her comeback.
Q: How did it feel to be back on the competition floor?
A: It was mainly very cool to be back out there. I was quite nervous all day long. Not because I was doubting myself, but because it felt quite strange to stand on the competition floor again. In the end, I can only be very satisfied with how the meet went. It was a good first step.
Q: When did you hear that you were going to compete in Gent?
A: A week before the competition, I did a mock meet during training. Gerben Wiersma [national coach] was there as well. That mock meet went well and that’s when it was decided that I would compete in Gent. For me, it was a good way to get competition experience on the road to Nationals, because that’s where I really want to shine.
Q: Are you also looking further ahead?
A: At first, I was working with small goals. It was important for me to have fun again and find my passion for gymnastics again. After that, I started to make steps and started looking further ahead. This year, there’s a mission for all of us and that’s earning a spot for the Olympics in Tokyo. I would love to be a part of the team that earns that spot. If I keep going like this, I think I can be of good worth for the team. I have confidence in that.
Q: When you’re out there on the competition floor now, is it different than before?
A: I have always been someone who enjoys things a lot, I am a die-hard lover of the sport. But that feeling was gone for a while. I was completely exhausted from fighting. The burnout was horrible for me. I was able to find support in the people around me but also felt very alone. I really had to learn to listen to myself and to do the right things to get out of the burnout.” Luckily, I have found myself again.
Q: What was the hardest part of that?
A: Admitting I had a burnout. I didn’t know I was in trouble, even though I was getting a lot of signs. Mentally I’ve always been very strong, too strong maybe. I totally exhausted myself and went over boundaries I shouldn’t have gone over. I had no idea that because I kept going, I only exhausted myself more. It happened during the Olympic year. In preparations, I never came to the fitness I had to get to and that mentally gave a lot of pressure. For me, there was only one option: it would be okay. And it did. Just in time, I was good enough to compete well during the Olympics. In the year after the Olympics, I competed at the World Championships. I only did beam, I wasn’t fit enough anymore to do the other apparatuses. I hoped that I would go back to the all-around after that. But in the end, I only went backward. I was totally exhausted.
Translation from Dutch by Kim.
