Post by Erwin on Mar 13, 2007 22:03:13 GMT 1
www.iaaf.org
When Arnoud Okken, in an immaculately delivered race, won the European Indoor 800m title in Birmingham on 4 March 2007 he secured the Netherlands’ stranglehold on European 800m running which his more illustrious training partner Bram Som had begun on 13 August 2006 when victorious at the outdoor continental title meet in Gothenburg.
Inspired by watching Ellen Van Langen winning the 1992 Olympic women's 800m title, Bram Som made history last year as the first Dutch athlete to become European outdoor 800m champion.
Consistent global player for five years
But arguably it was his achievements last year on the global stage, where he smashed the Dutch record with 1:43.45 in Zurich and finished second at the World Athletics Final and World Cup, which mark him down as a serious contender for medals at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka this summer.
Raised in the eastern Dutch town of Gaanderen, Som, a former gymnast, recalls watching Van Langen storm down the finishing straight to Olympic gold in Barcelona as a moment of great inspiration.
Ironically, Van Langen is now his manager and has become a vital support aid as a friend and advisor to his athletics career.
“Ellen travels a lot with me around Europe, she is my manager and we talk a lot about tactics,” said Som. “I have learned a lot from her. In Gothenburg I also asked her advice.”
Som, 27, was a talented junior sprinter and cross country champion and the 800m was the perfect blend of his talents. In 1998 he finished fifth at the World Junior Championships in Annecy and in 2000 made the Dutch team for the Sydney Olympics, where he exited in the heats.
Yet although the keen PSV Eindhoven soccer fan believes 2006 was his most successful season he claims the success should not have come as a huge shock after all he has been a consistent performer over the past five seasons.
In 2001 he dipped below 1:44 for the first time in his career with a 1:43.98 run in Monaco and reached the semi-finals of the IAAF World Championships in Edmonton.
The following year he finished sixth in the European Championship 800m final and in 2003 in Paris he was again a semi-finalist at the IAAF World Championships.
More semi-final frustration followed at the 2004 Olympics but major injury intervened in 2005 and after he missed the whole of the outdoor season he underwent surgery on his Achilles tendon.
Ironically, the operation prevented him from rushing back and the approach may well have paid dividends last summer.
Training safari
“In January I went to Kenya to train and I built up really slowly after what happened in 2005,” he explained. “It was quite necessary because of the injury but I put in a really good base for the whole season. We changed some things in training and also I have a new mental coach.”
Training alongside the 24 year-old Okken (outdoor 1:45.64 personal best and national Junior record – 2001), coached by Honore Hoedt, the man who also guided the career of Olympic 1500m finalist Gert-Jan Liefers, Som built up quietly but impressively for the European Championships.
While much of the pre-race attention was focused on Dmitrijs Milkevics of Latvia, the fastest man in Europe, it was Som who kept his head to win a tactically messy final to strike gold in Gothenburg. It was a huge moment in the Dutchman’s career.
“It proved to me I can run a good championship,” said Som. “Last season proved I can run the technical races and also run pretty quick.”
The plaudits followed in his native land. The Dutch media became interested in his every move and last year he was flattered to finish third in the 2006 Dutch Sports Personality of the Year.
“I am a little bit surprised at the interest and the fact it is all based on me winning the European title,” he admitted, “because I also broke the 21-year-old Dutch record (set by Rob Druppers).”
The belief to win at global level
Som believes the top Europeans have proved they can compete on a global scale over two-laps. The last three Olympic 800m titles have gone to European athletes – Vebjorn Rodahl, Nils Schumann and Yuriy Borzakovskiy – and he believes athletes from the continent should not be intimidated by the Africans.
“The advantage for the African runners is more in the long-distance,” he argued. “The difference maybe in the 800m is that it is not just based on long running it is a more complicated training.”
Som endured a mixed indoor campaign, winning in Valencia but was surprisingly beaten by his training partner Okken at the Dutch Championships – well in hindsight perhaps not quite so surprisingly now - and so decided to skip the European Indoor Championships, preferring to concentrate on the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka, Japan, this summer.
“I didn’t train back in October with the real spirit of training for the indoor championships,” said Som. “I did not have the fire in my heart. My goal is to go for a medal at the World Championships. The Europeans has given me the belief that I can do it.”
Steve Landells for the IAAF
When Arnoud Okken, in an immaculately delivered race, won the European Indoor 800m title in Birmingham on 4 March 2007 he secured the Netherlands’ stranglehold on European 800m running which his more illustrious training partner Bram Som had begun on 13 August 2006 when victorious at the outdoor continental title meet in Gothenburg.
Inspired by watching Ellen Van Langen winning the 1992 Olympic women's 800m title, Bram Som made history last year as the first Dutch athlete to become European outdoor 800m champion.
Consistent global player for five years
But arguably it was his achievements last year on the global stage, where he smashed the Dutch record with 1:43.45 in Zurich and finished second at the World Athletics Final and World Cup, which mark him down as a serious contender for medals at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka this summer.
Raised in the eastern Dutch town of Gaanderen, Som, a former gymnast, recalls watching Van Langen storm down the finishing straight to Olympic gold in Barcelona as a moment of great inspiration.
Ironically, Van Langen is now his manager and has become a vital support aid as a friend and advisor to his athletics career.
“Ellen travels a lot with me around Europe, she is my manager and we talk a lot about tactics,” said Som. “I have learned a lot from her. In Gothenburg I also asked her advice.”
Som, 27, was a talented junior sprinter and cross country champion and the 800m was the perfect blend of his talents. In 1998 he finished fifth at the World Junior Championships in Annecy and in 2000 made the Dutch team for the Sydney Olympics, where he exited in the heats.
Yet although the keen PSV Eindhoven soccer fan believes 2006 was his most successful season he claims the success should not have come as a huge shock after all he has been a consistent performer over the past five seasons.
In 2001 he dipped below 1:44 for the first time in his career with a 1:43.98 run in Monaco and reached the semi-finals of the IAAF World Championships in Edmonton.
The following year he finished sixth in the European Championship 800m final and in 2003 in Paris he was again a semi-finalist at the IAAF World Championships.
More semi-final frustration followed at the 2004 Olympics but major injury intervened in 2005 and after he missed the whole of the outdoor season he underwent surgery on his Achilles tendon.
Ironically, the operation prevented him from rushing back and the approach may well have paid dividends last summer.
Training safari
“In January I went to Kenya to train and I built up really slowly after what happened in 2005,” he explained. “It was quite necessary because of the injury but I put in a really good base for the whole season. We changed some things in training and also I have a new mental coach.”
Training alongside the 24 year-old Okken (outdoor 1:45.64 personal best and national Junior record – 2001), coached by Honore Hoedt, the man who also guided the career of Olympic 1500m finalist Gert-Jan Liefers, Som built up quietly but impressively for the European Championships.
While much of the pre-race attention was focused on Dmitrijs Milkevics of Latvia, the fastest man in Europe, it was Som who kept his head to win a tactically messy final to strike gold in Gothenburg. It was a huge moment in the Dutchman’s career.
“It proved to me I can run a good championship,” said Som. “Last season proved I can run the technical races and also run pretty quick.”
The plaudits followed in his native land. The Dutch media became interested in his every move and last year he was flattered to finish third in the 2006 Dutch Sports Personality of the Year.
“I am a little bit surprised at the interest and the fact it is all based on me winning the European title,” he admitted, “because I also broke the 21-year-old Dutch record (set by Rob Druppers).”
The belief to win at global level
Som believes the top Europeans have proved they can compete on a global scale over two-laps. The last three Olympic 800m titles have gone to European athletes – Vebjorn Rodahl, Nils Schumann and Yuriy Borzakovskiy – and he believes athletes from the continent should not be intimidated by the Africans.
“The advantage for the African runners is more in the long-distance,” he argued. “The difference maybe in the 800m is that it is not just based on long running it is a more complicated training.”
Som endured a mixed indoor campaign, winning in Valencia but was surprisingly beaten by his training partner Okken at the Dutch Championships – well in hindsight perhaps not quite so surprisingly now - and so decided to skip the European Indoor Championships, preferring to concentrate on the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka, Japan, this summer.
“I didn’t train back in October with the real spirit of training for the indoor championships,” said Som. “I did not have the fire in my heart. My goal is to go for a medal at the World Championships. The Europeans has given me the belief that I can do it.”
Steve Landells for the IAAF