Gijs Knoppert. Photo Susan van Weperen Text Susan van Weperen
Everyone that frequents the athletics track at Sports Centre de Bongerd has seen him: Gijs Knopperts, an 88-year-old athlete who runs his laps on the track every day. Student editor and running aficionado Susan van Weperen was eager to get to know this senior athlete and struck up a conversation.
His name is Gijs Knopperts. Born in 1934, he started to run in 1948 at age 14. ‘In 1948, the Olympics were held in London. It was the very first time I saw athletics, and I was sold immediately. I lived in Rhenen at the time and joined a running club for adolescents. There was no athletics track or anything like that. We would just run through the woods as fast as we could.’ When Knopperts started studying, he stopped running. ‘Studying and running don’t go well together’. He picked up where he left off at age 66 when he joined Dutch Veterans. Meanwhile, he and his wife were active within the Dutch Athletics Union. ‘Mainly organising and selecting participants for competitions.
No idea
Knopperts lives close to de Bongerd, which is why he comes there to run every day. He does not have any ties to WUR and also doesn’t know why he likes running so much. ‘If I consider my performance, it is rather mediocre. I generally don’t win. Sadly. That has always been the case. Still, I like running. But I have no idea why.’
I like running. But I have no idea why
Knopperts enters about four competitions every year. Finding competitions he can join is becoming increasingly difficult, though: ‘Especially evening competitions are an issue, as I prefer not to drive at night. Sometimes I stay at a hotel. And for the Wageningen running competitions, I have become too slow. They don’t want me there because they have to wait for me.’
Village idiot
‘Sometimes people who see me running feel sorry for me. They think, “ah, there’s the village idiot again”. It doesn’t bother me. Most people think it is great. I recently completed a hundred metres in 33.56 seconds. People along the track thought it was great and came to talk to me after the competition.’
When I am 90, every crappy performance I manage to deliver will be an instant record. That would be fun
At age 85, Knoppert ranked 8th on the world ranking for 85-year-olds. However, he sees many senior runners having to quit. ‘It is almost a knock-out race, survival of the fittest.’ He is nowhere near done running. ‘I hope to be able to keep it up for at least another two years. That is when I turn 90 and enter a different age category. If I manage to maintain my current form, I will end up quite high in the world ranking. Every crappy performance I manage to deliver will be an instant record. That would be fun.’
