If you look back at the Olympic Games with Belgian glasses, you naturally think of the Belgian medals. But the emotions that almost everyone can still recall are the tears of Mieke Gorissen after the Olympic marathon in Japan. Ruben Van Gucht looks back with her in Sporza Home Match.
Watch the Sporza Home match with Mieke Gorissen
“I missed the media training session”
There is not yet a statue in Diepenbeek, but a sign adorns Ganzenstraat, the home of Mieke Gorissen. Her disarming response after the marathon was one of the highlights of the Games.
“I was shocked how many people had stayed up to watch the marathon,” she says about her own performance (28th) in Sporza Home Match. “I thought, why would you lose your sleep for that?”
Gorissen was so surprised by her result that she burst into tears at our reporter. “I quickly blurt out something and don’t care much about it, but afterwards I always think: what did I get out of my bones? Apparently I shouldn’t worry too much about it.”
The athlete let her gut feeling speak, something you rarely experience in the sports world. “Media training was offered to the Belgian participants, but I was teaching when the session was held,” the physics teacher recalls.
“So I had to skip that session. Maybe it was because of that. I asked about the recording to watch it afterwards, but I didn’t get to that.”
“A lot of people thought I was sad or disappointed”
“The impact was unbelievable,” Mieke Gorissen repeats. “I saw memes about myself, students told me that pieces were being made on TikTok. And I fell out of the sky when I was asked by Dutch television.”
Had Gorissen herself not calculated that she would react so emotionally? “No! I’m a chatterbox who mainly thinks a hundred times afterwards.”
“I heard afterwards that many people thought I was sad, that I was disappointed. Especially foreigners thought that.”
“They thought that Sammy (Neyrinck, our reporter) was poking. “Leave her alone. She’s unhappy.” But I was over the moon, except the filter was gone.”
I am always afraid that I will disappoint people. When requests come in, I always want to say yes. But on the other hand, I feel like I’m just maintaining it that way myself.
Mieke Gorissen’s life has changed somewhat since the tear-jerker. “Certainly in terms of attention. It is something that I still don’t quite know how to deal with. In certain areas, the anonymity is gone, yes.”
“I’m always afraid I’ll disappoint people. When applications come in, I always want to say yes. But on the other hand, I feel like I’m just maintaining it that way myself.”
“It’s nice things that come my way, but there’s exactly a spotlight on me. Just because I’m someone who does and then thinks, that’s a position that I know my nervous nature will not calm down. “
“If I had had a crystal ball, I would certainly have thought about it carefully. But that would not have helped at all. I sometimes think too much, but certainly not at that moment.”
“Recently someone spoke to me in a store. He said that the spontaneity of my interview had inspired him to spontaneously say something to me. I found that heartwarming. Some people have a little bit of luck found in it and I’m grateful for that.”
“I think PE teachers are falling out of their chairs”
Besides the tears, Mieke Gorissen also stands for sporting achievements. Sometimes to her own surprise.
“I like to run, but I used to always have the lowest marks on sports. I think my physical education teachers from the past are falling out of their seats.”
“Ball sports? Dramatic. Equipment gymnastics? A disaster. Thanks to the cooper test, I was able to boost my points.”
Listen to the episode with Mieke Gorissen as a podcast
