Olympic champion Hennie Kuiper back at the place of his greatest triumph: "Grünwald was the breakthrough"

Created: 05/20/2022, 11:28 am

By: Martin Becker

50 years later: Hennie Kuiper (left) with Grünwald's mayor Jan Neusiedl at the entry in the municipality's golden book.

© mbe

50 years after his victory at the Olympic Games, racing cyclist Hennie Kuiper has returned to the place of his greatest victory: Grünwald.

Grünwald

– In Denekamp, ​​a town with 9,000 inhabitants, near the Dutch-German border, there is a museum dedicated to Hennie Kuiper.

He was born there in 1949 – and wrote cycling history 23 years later: at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, the cyclist from the Netherlands won the gold medal in the road race.

The goal back then: in Grünwald.

"That was my best victory," the 73-year-old looks back as he revisits the place of his greatest triumph.

50 years after his success in road cycling in 1972, Olympic champion Hennie Kuiper returned to Grünwald.

At the invitation of Mayor Jan Neusiedl, the Dutchman once again signed the municipality's golden book.

“My Olympic victory was the most beautiful victory in my entire cycling life.

I was a cyclist until I was 39, rode the Tour de France twelve times and also won stages, but Grünwald was the breakthrough,” the then 23-year-old reminisced.

“I grew up on a farm.

Sport was the best thing for me at school - and it was my dream as a child to win gold.

I lived in a village near the border with Germany and the world opened up for me after winning the Olympics.”

“Kuipertje” was actually not intended for the race

The history of Grünwald and the Dutchman's Olympic victory is characterized by coincidences.

At the time, Hendrikus Andreas Kuiper was called “Kuipertje” because of his slight stature. He was actually only scheduled for the 100-kilometer team time trial – but the Dutch team was stripped of the bronze medal there because of a doping case.

After another driver dropped out, Hennie Kuiper was short-term nominated for the road race – and won the gold medal after 182.4 kilometers in 4:14.37 hours;

with the Olympic victory, he also received the title of amateur world champion in 1972.

At 73 again on the Olympic course

Of course, Hennie Kuiper reviewed all of this during his flying visit to Grünwald, where he was accompanied by a team of reporters from his hometown of Enschede.

At the age of 73, the Olympic champion completed the 22.8-kilometre circuit via Straßlach, Kloster Schäftlarn and Pullach again – but this time in a car.

Hennie Kuiper then visited the Olympic Village.

Emotions ran high when he visited the assassination site at Connollystrasse 31 and the memorial site.

A stay that visibly moved him.

"At that time I was only concentrating on my sport," says Hennie Kuiper, who felt it was important to commemorate this terrible chapter of the 1972 Olympic Games.

At the moment of his greatest triumph: Hennie Kuiper crossing the finish line of the 1972 Olympic road race in Grünwald.

© Archive Municipality of Grünwald

Incidentally, the racing bike on which Hennie Kuiper won the gold medal at the time was for a long time only on display at the ice cream parlor "De IJskuip" in Noord Deurningen.

But now, 50 years after this triumph, there is a dedicated Hennie Kuiper bicycle museum.