ZONDERLAND Epke

General
TOKYO STRUGGLES
He struggled with his shape and fitness in the lead-up to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and considered skipping the Games entirely. "It goes with ups and downs, but there is certainly no good preparation now. I'm feeling more 'not fit' than being fit. I'm sick quite often, having a cold quickly. I am certainly not thinking about medals anymore. I have to rise above myself to get to the final. To reach the final would be very special if you look at my fitness." (ad.nl, 08 Jul 2021)

RETIREMENT PLANS
He will retire from the sport after the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. When the Games were postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he struggled to keep his motivation and focus and even thought about an early retirement. "The Games were always in my mind and all of a sudden that goal fades away. We couldn't train, there were no competitions. It was very difficult to stay motivated. I even thought about retirement at that point. But in the end I didn't want to retire, I couldn't see myself sitting on the couch watching the Olympics and thinking to myself: it would have been nice to be there. I wanted to retire and walk away from the sport at a big competition." He decided to postpone his further education, which he normally would have taken up in 2021, to fully focus on the Games. (nos.nl, 04 Jan 2021; ad.nl, 08 Jul 2021; trouw.nl, 04 Jul 2020; 01 Apr 2020; telegraaf.nl, 01 Apr 2020)

NATIONAL FIRST
He became the first Dutch male athlete to win an individual Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics when he claimed gold on horizontal bar at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. (SportsDeskOnline, 30 Aug 2018; espn.go.com, 08 Aug 2012)