Bianca Baak

Bianca Baak putting on her running shoes

Bianca Baak portrait

Hurdles athlete Bianca Baak preparing for training

Bianca Baak doing drills during training

Bianca Baak drinking during training

Bianca Baak doing exercises on track

Bianca Baak checking her phone in the gym

Bianca Baak working out in a gym

Close-up of hurdles athlete Bianca Baak

Bianca Baak lifting a bar in the gym

Bianca Baak taking a rest to drink

Bianca Baak preparing for a gym workout

Bianca Baak hurdles athlete in a gym

Bianca Baak workout in a gym

Bianca Baak side plank core workout

Bianca Baak resting in a gym during a workout

Bianca Baak core workout

Bianca Baak stretching in a gym

Bianca Baak hurdles athlete power workout

Portrait of Bianca Baak, a top hurdles athlete from The Netherlands

Location: Amsterdam

A quick look at Bianca’s statistics: she won every Dutch national championship for 400m hurdles from 2012 through 2017. Still, in 2016, she stopped competing, which she announced during this emotional interview with NOS. She felt like she was stuck, and sports was something she felt she had to do. This prevented her from really enjoying it. Quite simply, she wasn’t sure whether being an athlete was what she wanted most. It takes sacrifices and dedication, both financially, mentally and socially.

After taking this break and doing some soul searching, she was pulled back into sports and felt liberated when running again. She was quick to set her sights on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. A lingering injury hasn’t made things easy for her, and when I spent this afternoon with her she was working hard on recovering, all the while dealing with not being able to even run, let alone jump hurdles. This is the rough and long road to recovery that many professional athletes have to walk.