Florian Van Acker won one of the 5 Belgian Paralympic titles in Rio. “I think it’s a good thing that the Games have been postponed for a year,” he surprised when he left for Tokyo. “This allowed me to train for an extra year and the more training the better.”
“I’ll see if I’m in as good shape as I was in Rio, but the ambition is always to win. When I play sports, I want to win.”
Van Acker will have to do without the encouragement of the public. “That doesn’t interest me. Only my match interests me.”
However, he was able to stir up the public in Rio like the best with his well-known “pouf”. “But that ottoman is a thing of the past. I laughed about it for hours with (Sporza journalist) Stefaan Lammens. We’ll see how it turns out now. Take it easy.”
The attention Van Acker received after Rio died down after a while. Fortunately, he thinks so. “It was from reception here and reception there. That has seriously worked on my system. If I get gold again, it will be the same. While I’d rather they leave me alone.”
But first there is the flight to Japan. “I’m really looking forward to it, but it’s a long way, isn’t it. I don’t like that.”
“I also hope they are good beds, because I heard that we sleep on cardboard beds there. I’d rather be at home.”
