Bolas Underwear is a sports brand. That's why we're delighted to be collaborating with top athlete Leon Mak. We are happy to offer him a platform and hope for a successful partnership to help him achieve his ambition as a top athlete. Leon Mak is a decathlon athlete and trains at the Papendal sports complex in Arnhem.
Hello reader!
I'm Léon Mak, a 22-year-old athlete, who is well on his way to chasing his dreams. Since last year, I've been supported by Bolas Underwear. This year, we've expanded our collaboration, hence this blog.
At the age of twelve, I was already clear about my goal. One day I said, "Mom, I want to go to the Olympic Games!" At that time, my mother patted me on the head and told me to just go and train. Honestly, I wasn't very good at athletics back then, but I started to develop a passion for the sport. The process of developing and watching myself grow had begun.
At a young age, I noticed that hard work pays off! My father and I started doing extra training on running events, as I wasn't as good at those. Also, these are relatively easy to train. When I noticed a few months later that I was suddenly running at the front instead of the back, I was hooked... I decided to also train extra on technical events. After all, I had a dream to chase, and I knew it wouldn't happen on its own.
After several years of extra training, with my father and 'figuring out' how to get better, I received an offer to train with a talent group in Deventer. I had already managed to break through from the regional top to the national top, but I knew I was ready for the next step. After this, I trained for over 7 years under talent coach Michel Knobbe in Deventer. This allowed me to develop from a small athlete to a mature top athlete. In recent years, I have achieved many successes under Michel's guidance, including 20 medals at the Dutch Championships in various events (of which I became Dutch Champion 7 times) and a silver medal at the European Junior Championships.
I realize that I am currently living the dream of 'little Léon' and have already achieved several intermediate steps. However, I felt that I needed to change something to truly go 'next level'. That's why, since November, I've been training at the National Sports Centre Papendal, under the guidance of the national coach and the National Federation. Through this, I hope to take my final step towards my ultimate goal: the Olympic Games.
