8th March 2013 06:25
After sweeping to heptathlon glory in a world leading mark at the European Athletics Indoor Championship in Göteborg, Eelco Sintnicolaas admitted a more relaxed, fun approach to the sport is reaping the rewards.
The 25-year-old Dutchman, who won a decathlon silver medal at the 2010 European Athletics Championships, was determined to make an impact at last summer's Olympic Games in London.
He set a personal best score and national decathlon record of 8506pts in Gotzis last May but underperformed when it counted most in the British capital, finishing a distant 11th behind world record holder Ashton Eaton.
'I was in really great form before London, but I wasn't the relaxed guy I used to be,' he says looking back on the experience. 'I wanted to improve everything - my eating, my sleeping. Everything needed to be perfect. I put too much pressure on myself.'
Sintnicolaas performed below par in many of his first six events before a disastrous 32.26m discus – his PB is 42.81m - wrecked any chance of a top six finish. He then went through the motions of completing the decathlon, but his modest ten-event total of 8034pts was more than 450pts down on his lifetime best.
Reflecting on the disappointment in London he has his coach, Vince de Lange, decided on a fresh approach for the indoor season. Gone would be the tense, stressed athlete who performed so disappointingly in the biggest competition of his life.
'I said to myself (of the European Athletics Indoor Championships), 'just go out and enjoy it.' Relax and do your own thing. I'm in great shape. I'm lighter than ever. If I want to eat carrot cake or a brownie leading up to the competition I'll do it.'
The switch in attitude paid off. In Sweden, the Dutch all-rounder struck gold with a new personal best and national record score of 6372 – some 75pts clear of his nearest rival the talented young Frenchman Kevin Mayer.
It was the Apeldoorn-based athlete's first major championship gold medal and it was a performance, which stands him in good stead going into the summer season.
'I was favourite on paper and I really wanted to win gold to meet my own expectations,' he says. 'The best thing for me this winter is that I twice scored more than 6300pts (in heptathlon) and for many events I didn't score PB's so that puts me in a really stable position heading into the outdoors.'
Coached by De Lange - he is also given high jump input from Wim Vandeven, the coach to 2008 Olympic high jump champion Tia Hellebaut - Sintnicolaas tends to excel in the jumps, most notably the pole vault where his personal best stands at an impressive 5.52m.
Understandably, this is his preferred event while his least favourite of the ten disciplines is no great surprise.
'I don't like the 1500m,' he says. 'It is the worst event to do and to practice, but when you are finished you feel so satisfied and complete. That is a great feeling.'
Sintnicolaas opens his outdoor season in Gotzis in May a competition he describes as 'big' but the main ambition for 2013 remains the World Championships in Moscow.
'I would really like to finish top five,' he adds of his expectations of competing in the Russian capital. 'Then if you finish in the top five, I'll also want to fight for a medal. I would like to think from now until the end of my career I'll fight for medals (at major championships) but, of course, at the worlds I'll need to be at my best for two days.'