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In the “Sport Panorama” Jan van Berkel looked back on his 15-year triathlon career without nostalgia.
Jan van Berkel has had a long journey. After circumnavigating the world 8 times using only his own muscle power, his triathlon career ended on Sunday with victory at Ironman Switzerland in Thun. Another 8 hours of sweating, suffering – but also laughing, not only about the 4th triumph in the exhausting long-distance race.
“I tried to enjoy it. But you have to concentrate on the task, which was harder for me today than usual. I was almost dehydrated on the bike,” said Van Berkel, after marching surprisingly light-footed into the “Sport Panorama” studio.
Dernière hung by a thread
The 37-year-old did not take it for granted that his last race ended so well. 10 days ago he trespassed his foot during training, he reported. “It was tight for Thun.” The irony of the story: His wife Sarah (formerly Meier) had a similar experience before her last competition as a figure skater (at the 2011 European Championships in Bern). “When she said that to me, it was ok for me,” said the Zurich native.
Van Berkel, who only really took off after switching from the Olympic to the Ironman distance, has had to learn how to deal with setbacks in his career. He had hardly announced his retirement when he suffered a training accident on his bike in April in Val di Mara, Italy: because the brakes failed, he crashed headfirst into a wall, but got off lightly.
Rosamunde Pilcher could not have written it better.
The father of two was all the happier about the happy ending in the Bernese Oberland, which he was able to celebrate with family and friends. “It felt right to take this race as my last. Putting the dot on the i here: someone told me today that Rosamunde Pilcher could not have written it better. »
The next stage in your professional life is coming up
After 2018, 2019 and 2021 he won the Ironman Switzerland for the 4th time. Why resign when you’re still full of juice? “I didn’t want to challenge it. It was just the perfect timing.”
He now wants to give something back to his family, who had to make sacrifices in recent years due to the many absences. First of all, there is an interview on Monday. “I am a trained lawyer and have completed further training in sports law. Now comes the job hunt.”
His last official act as a professional athlete on Sunday evening was the awarding of medals to the last finishers of the Ironman in Thun – a matter of honour.