The Olympic Games of Thomas Van der Plaetsen were literally and figuratively a turn-off. He still had to be removed in a wheelchair after 2 of the 10 parts of the decathlon after a painful injury. In the NPO program Everyone Illuminated, he tells how thanks to meditation he “sees light at the end of the tunnel again”.
Decathlete Thomas Van der Plaetsen has already had the necessary dose of bad luck in his career. Injuries are almost inextricably linked to the decathlon, but in 2014 he also had to fight against testicular cancer.
“During that period I learned a lot from meditation,” says Van der Plaetsen on Dutch television. He got to know it through his father.
“He always took his yoga mat with him on holiday. I myself was not interested in it at all at the time. Sitting still is not for me. But after his death I went looking for points of contact. That is why I resorted to that meditation, to connect with him.”
To connect with my deceased father I started with meditation.
“Tokyo was a major trauma”
The painful retreat in Tokyo was another blow to Van der Plaetsen. “It is a serious trauma to literally bite the sand in front of the whole world.”
Even now meditation helps him recover. “I need to get away from everything for a while,” says Van der Plaetsen from the water.
“Through meditation I create space to see light at the end of the tunnel again. I give myself time to relax. I wait for a signal (from my body) that I am ready to go for it again.”
