Elisabeth Willeboordse / Judo, Olympic bronze (2008), participant (2012) S he came to inspire others and went home full of inspiration herself. On the flight back from Rio de Janeiro to Amsterdam, Elisabeth Willeboordse said to herself: ‘I must get involved with this.’ Olympic bronze medal winner and former European titleholder had been to Rio before, of course: Brazil is a great judo nation. But in May 2013 she had seen a different side of the city – the children from the favelas. She was the first in what would be turn out to be a long line of present and past Dutch top athletes who visited the GEO project in Rio at NOC*NSF’s request. She went there to talk about her own sporting dreams and to give a couple of clinics. ‘They gave me an amazing reception. They thought it was fantastic that we were visiting their school. They wanted to touch me and to see and hold my medal. Such a small thing, and you should see those big eyes ... Well, small – that bronze medal from the 2008 Beijing Games is worth a lot to me, of course, but hundreds of people have won gold medals. Still, that’s not remotely an issue for the children.’ ‘What you get back is so much love, incredible. That affected me very deeply.’ “Você recebe tanto amor de volta... É inacreditável. Me comoveu muito.” Before she arrived, the children had been taught some basic information about the Netherlands and about Willeboordse’s achievements in the tatami. ‘One girl had actually made me a drawing. She told me: “Elisabeth, you really changed my life.” That gave me goose bumps. I thought to myself, “How can 36 > GEO project / friendship, respect and excellence
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