Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel
Maybe the best female cyclist ever worldwide, Leontien Zijlaard- van Moorsel. After a successful cycling career in 1994 she was forced to stop early - she had told herself that she could improve her performance by lose weight extremely. What seemed the key to success, disrupted her life for years. In the end she only weighed 42 kilos and she was a wreck when she disappeared from the platoon.
The cycling world had written her off. But thanks to her willpower and with the help of her family she succeeded in fighting back to the top level: the Olympic Games of Sydney. She performed what seemed impossible to everyone: she gained three golden medals.
Below an interview with Leontien as a result of her book. 'The ride of my life' is the title of the biography of Leontien Zijlaard- van Moorsel. The plural olympic cycling champion presented the book, written by the journalist Marjolein Hurkmans, in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. Friend Danielle Overgaag received the first specimen.
In the boek is described how Leontien van Moorsel (born on the 22nd of March 1970 in Brabant), maybe still would have lived there if not at an early age she had discovered to be able to cycle fast. With an unprecedented perseverance she cycled in the end 4 Olympic titles, 9 world championships and 2 tour victories all together. The fanaticism that made Van Moorsel a plural world champion, also broke her up. Her strenght turned out to be her weakness, which in the end she managed to turn around to come out of it stronger. The book can be valuable to young ambitious sporters or career people, who seem willing to do anything to reach the top. Leontien clearly points out where the pitfalls are.
