Column | Many athletes never speak out. Fortunately, Demi Vollering does

I just fall with the door in the house: I think it is cool that Demi Volling seizes her performance on the bike to draw attention to the important things of life. Two weeks ago she did not perform in Liège-Bastogne-Liège as she had hoped, because her cycle had thrown soot in the works: she had finished my period just before the course, which had resulted in less power in the legs.

Menstruation and top sport, and even menstrualization in general, is a subject about which little is still known, and about which there is far too little talk. That must be done differently, follows Volling. I agree with her. It is madness that something that half of the world’s population has to contend is taken so little seriously. That it is laughed about, and so many women suffer in silence – only because there is too little known about the female body.

Thursday Volling won the first mountain stage in the Vuelta. After the finish she brokebecause during the ride she had thought a lot of someone close to her, who is having a hard time mentally. Not only that person, but many young people suffer from mental problems, she said. And there is still too little attention for that. Let alone that there are good solutions for it. They feel lonely. Think they are the only ones. Her victory, she said, she dedicated to everyone who is mentally tangled. On her socials, she explained even more about it, with figures about young people who feel unhappy.

The cynical character that I sometimes also have ventured into the thought that it is one week this, and then again with Demi. It attracts a lot of attention. Smart marketing of Volling, and the team around her. Certainly if you follow up on the social media. This is how you build a personal brand.

On Thursday I immediately referred my cynical character to the first sentence of this column. If you give such an interview, immediately after the finish, that is not thought of. That’s pure.

And even if it would have been conceived in advance, what is wrong with that if you cut such important topics? Fulling has a gigantic platform worldwide. She wants to be a role model, She told me two years ago For this newspaper. In the meantime she is that role model, which does not shun to cut loaded themes. Themes in which she also shows her vulnerability and sometimes put her at the center of a discussion. Almost all top athletes are wary of that. Such discussions distract, they cost energy. A good reason not to show too much of your personality.

Perhaps such a cynical thought is urged because we are not used to athletes who speak so personally about vulnerable themes. That they really stand for something. We soon find that American. Venus and Serena Williams, Simone Biles, Colin Kaepernick: they are talking openly about depression, abuse, and racism. They are athlete in a way that we hardly know in the Netherlands. Just do it, then you do crazy enough, we soon think. Do not put your head above ground level. Focus on your sport.

I think it is so cool that Demi Volling does not care about it, and is such a pioneer.

Marijn de Vries is a former professional cyclist and journalist.

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