Interview: Tokyo 2021 - 3x3 Basket

In the anticipation of Tokyo 2021, we interviewed our qualified athletes before they pack their bags! This week in the spotlight: 3x3 basket.

• 3x3 Basketball / Belgium

"I think that we are physically really good, in the last 2 months we were able to compete with all the best teams in the world. We were able to win quite a few times what also gave us a ticket to the Games. This is why I am assured that we are being our best selves. "

"I think it would be regular basket or water skiing because I have a history in those two sports. A final option could be horseback riding, this has some family motives. I was a decent rider, only a little too tall for the horse, being 1.95m."

"I’ve started with basketball at the age of 5, even before! But I was 5 when I joined a club. I started 3x3 when I was 22."

"Because we are semi-pro, the 2nd national league of regular basketball quitted during covid-times. This gave us the opportunity to plan trainings fully in function of 3x3. Thanks to this we could train every day and we were able to participate in a load of tournaments. Since May, we played a tournament every weekend until the qualifiers and in the same flow we would like to continue to the Olympics. "

"For me personally this was the last game we played, this game brought us the ticket to Tokyo! We did something that seemed impossible. This was a great moment where all the efforts of the past months came together. You could witness on our faces that this was the most beautiful moment!"

"Corona has had a really positive impact on us, we also play regular basketball and because of covid we were able to pause that. This gave us the opportunity to focus on 3x3 what paid off. "

"We leave 10 days before our games, this gives us enough time to acclimatize. It will be around 12-14 July."

"Our games start at July 24th, this is at the start of the tournament. "

"We want to face at least 8 teams, to reach the stage of the final six. If we get there, there might be an opportunity to stunt and reach the top 4. After that you can dream of a medal but I don’t want to think of that! We will need to get used to setbacks because we are going to face the best teams in the world. "

"For me this is someone that might not be everyone’s greatest Olympian. This is because of how it moved me personally. Atlanta 1996, Fred de Burghgraeve, I was only 7 years old and remember this like yesterday. It had a huge impact on me watching the TV, seeing the relieve, the atmosphere, the commentators… For me this was the most memorable moment even after seeing athletes like Phelps and Bolt. "

"Both my physiotherapist as a friend were using products of 6d Sports Nutrition. Because I have a sensitive stomach my physiotherapist adviced me to try out the 6d isotonic sports drink as an easily digestible sports drink. After that I was brought in contact with one of the sales representatives, we had a great talk and started up our partnership. "

"Beta-Alanine has had the biggest impact on our preparation. "

"The last tournament we noticed that we were in a better shape than our rivals. It postpones acidification and in our game this is really important."

"I think that overloading my stomach is the biggest rookie mistake I’ve made. To many health supplements in combination with too little food, I really suffered from this. "

"If I could only bring one it would be the Sodium Bicarbonate because this product will help to avoid acidification even extra at the moment. Something that will be necessary in the Tokyo environment. "